How Can You Keep Your Team Motivated?
It’s a tricky one isn’t it? How can you keep your team motivated and productive at all times? Or at least most of the time…
Honestly, there is no magic solution. Every team and working situation is different, so the factors involved in team motivation may vary.
We have 7 proven motivational techniques to share with you in this article.
In This Article:
1. Talk To Your Team
We talk about the power of communication a lot. There’s a good reason for this. Strong communication is at the heart of all great teams and effective management.
Talk regularly with your team members, both on a 1-to-1 basis and to the team as a whole.
Example
Pencil in a team chat over coffee once a week – and stick to it. It doesn’t have to be a huge chunk of time, even 15 minutes will work.
2. Be Open
Open to questions, open to ideas and solutions, open to discussing problems and challenges – just be open.
Cultivating a culture where team members can rely on your support to listen, consider their perspective, and help them resolve any challenges is an important building block for motivated teams.
For example:
Begin actively encouraging ideas and fresh takes on how you do things. An ideas board can be an excellent starting point. Make sure to consider each contribution, and try out as many as are feasible.
3. Be the Enthusiasm You Want to See
Walk the walk. It’s no good firing off emails and catchphrases about being enthusiastic if you’re not showing your team that you’re already living it!
Enthusiasm is catching. Demonstrate consistently high levels of productivity and a great attitude to your work. Your team will find it hard to resist following your example.
For example:
Really think about the kind of energy and productivity levels you’d like your team to have. Next, focus on being that kind of worker for a full week, checking in with yourself regularly to ensure you’re working to your ideal levels.
4. Consider Your Working Environment
Is your working environment somewhere you like to be? If not, it’s likely your team feel the same way.
Think about ways you can create a space in which your team will feel comfortable and energised while working. Even small changes can have a huge effect on morale.
For example:
We recently began keeping a stock of fresh fruit in the office. This has had a positive effect our energy levels (not to mention immune systems!) and overall wellbeing.
5. Trust Your Team
Micro-management has a crushing effect on productivity, creativity, and pro-activity. Resist the urge to question every action of your team members, or constantly check up on what they are doing.
Show them that you trust they have it covered – you know they have both the skill and work ethic to reach their goal on-time.
For example:
Where possible reinforce this mentality by verbally communicating that you know strong a team member is on a particular task.
6. Invest in Growth
Everyone needs growth, both personal and professional. Try not to let your fear of losing employees to other teams or companies hold you back from investing in their continued development.
In fact, by investing in further training and certification, you’ll boost your team’s morale and confidence, reassuring them that they are in an organisation that values their contribution.
For example:
Consider running a team building workshop, or working out a skills development training and certification path for individual team members.
7. Encourage and Reward
If bonuses and financial incentives are outside of your remit as a manager, fear not! You can still incentivise and cheerlead your team in other ways.
Regular praise and encouragement goes a long way when it’s sincere. Look for opportunities to support your team, and recognise work well-done.
For example:
If you’re assigning work, you can always note that you’re allocating a task to someone because it’s a particular strength of theirs.
