Introduction
Do you press the snooze button on your alarm clock in the morning? And do you do it more than once? You’re not the only one who wants to get up early but fails to do so. Your motivation to achieve your goals can sometimes falter as you bring yourself into a routine.
And what is more routine-like than working professionally for an organization with varied individuals who possess different personalities and skill sets?
For many managers, their definition of motivation is ‘‘to get you to do what I want you to do, with a minimum of trouble from you.’’. However, we don’t define this as motivation, but rather putting your positional power to make people do things just because they have to. If you want to know how to motivate employees as a manager, then you’ll have to take out time to explore the employee motivation dimension.
Let us make it sound simpler. There are many ways you can find out how to motivate your team by observing their behavior and getting to know them. Continue reading…
Motivation for the Team
One of the key qualities of a great manager is changing the feelings of his/her team members from a “Have to” to “Want to” mindset. Because the only motivation that proves to work is self-motivation. It becomes a self-sustaining pleasure when you and your employees do a job not because they’ve been coerced to, but because they want to.
Do you remember the last time you felt self-motivated to put your 100%? Was it because of a promotion you were expecting or was it because of an ongoing incentive program? Perhaps it was just because of sheer pride. Similarly, getting to know your employees will give you a fair understanding of what motivates them, and how to tap into that stream of motivation to your and your organization’s benefit.
Motivating employees in the workplace isn’t rocket science, but it isn’t as easy as being an Ice-cream tester. Most employees have a need for achievement, and it’s generally driven by a need for security, good salary, and working conditions, as well as status and rewards. If apart from ensuring these requirements, you can involve your team members in making decisions, and take interest in developing their skills and talents. Satisfying these is a surefire way to find self-motivated employees.
Here are some tips to keep in mind:
Say more than “Do Your Best”: It’s always better to give out clear instructions to your team or employees about the long-term goals you’re chasing as an organization. A study by American Psychological Association revealed better performance and success when specific goals were set beforehand. Lay out a clear strategy for the required task and provide guidance along the way. Track the progress and share relevant feedback.
Show Loyalty: “Loyalty, like trust, is productive. There is much evidence of the enormous benefits associated with trust.” says Dr. Sandra J. Peart at the University of Richmond and we couldn’t agree more. Stand by your staff, take personal responsibility, and have confidence in the judgment of your team.
Celebrate Milestones: It’s a great way to keep employees motivated and feel valued through celebrations of birthdays, work anniversaries, or project completions. This shows your team members that they are recognized and appreciated at the workplace.
Encourage an outside work bond: Going out together to eat, or even watching a movie with the team, will create opportunities for bonding outside of cubicles. In return, trust will translate back into the workplace by creating a team-oriented and transparent culture.
Golden Rule: Don’t ignore the fact that most managers do, that they were all once employees too. It’s important to keep in mind and remember regularly the things your boss did at the time to motivate you or the things he did that made you quit. Pick the positives, leave the rest.
But who’s going to keep me motivated then? We know what you’re thinking. We’ve talked so much about motivating and encouraging others, that it feels like we forgot about you. But that’s the neat part, we didn’t.
Motivation for You
Remember that the only motivation that is proven to work is self-motivation? We’re going to discuss how you can tap into your own stream of motivation and make it a self-perpetuating habit. Ask yourself “What am I trying to achieve?” and “How can I achieve it?”. “What” and “How”, are the two elements of motivation which can help you.
Once you’ve identified the ‘what’ and ‘how’, the next step is to strategize and organize your strategies. Once you’ve taken care of all these things, you will have a bird’s eye view of your professional sphere as not just a manager, but as a leader and mentor by setting an example.
Tips for excellence:
Setting personal goals: Break that boulder of a goal into smaller chunks that you can manage one at a time. This will make things easily achievable for you. Getting through checkpoints and looking at how each day less and less work is left can be a great motivator.
Reward yourself: Create a system of rewarding yourself with either a cup of coffee or your favorite snack whenever you successfully get through a mundane, repetitive task. You can also choose from any other activity that is more preferred. This will be a great external motivator.
Learn new things: It’s hard to stay motivated if you’re not doing something new each day. This can make people feel like they’re stuck at a job. We don’t want that for anyone, so it’s valuable to find ways to motivate yourself with new skills, such as mastering a new software, or how to take your MS Suite skills to advanced levels.
Surround yourself with good people: As a manager, you need to keep a check on your network and immediate workplace circle. Surround yourself with people who can relate to you and help with staying positive.
As a leader, it is one of your key roles to make sure that your team is motivated. To do so, you can remind people of your company’s vision, mentor them, support them through various tools and strategies and hold them accountable for being autonomous. At the same time, it goes without saying that you also need to stay motivated at the workplace so you stay connected to what you’re doing. In this blog, we learned ways you can do so.
Excited about motivating others? You can become the best at motivation and a motivator with our First Time Manager Bootcamp.
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