How to motivate a team comes down to instituting a series of policies and changes that make people want to work harder. Here’s what we suggest…
Teamwork makes the dreamwork! Unless, of course, your team isn’t feeling motivated to get that work done.
In fact, draining energy and enthusiasm from your team can cause everyone to leave.
The total number of employee quits per year has increased every year since 2010. In fact, 3.5 million people left their jobs in a single month in 2017.
Don’t let a lack of motivation destroy your team! Instead, discover how to motivate a team with these nine unbelievably impactful tips.
With these suggestions, you can fuel their energy and start succeeding as a well-oiled machine!
1. Create a Great Place to Work
Your office work environment can make or break your team.
For many people, an environment is more important than making money. After all, your team is bound to spend a lot of time in the office. Make it a place they want to spend their time and they’ll feel motivated to arrive at work every day.
Creating a “beautiful” place for work is just the start.
What about offering a spot where employees can rest and relax? You can also create a game room environment where they can have fun and blow off steam.
Creating these small spaces throughout your office can foster creativity.
Instead of feeling stuck and unmotivated in a dull cubicle, spice up your space!
A great place to work can stimulate the mind, so keep that in mind.
2. Empower Each Individual
Some of your team members might feel like they’re under a lot of pressure. Their self-doubt can damage their motivation and slow their productivity.
Take the time to empower and encourage each individual on your team.
If they have self-doubts, remind them about the potential they have to offer. After all, you added them to your team for a reason. Show you’re confident in their abilities and they’ll feel their confidence rise in turn.
Remember, your team is made up of distinct individuals. Each person has their own list of strengths, weaknesses, capabilities, and doubts.
Determine their strengths and give them a chance to act on their abilities.
When people work to their strengths, they’ll feel more confident. Focus on those strengths and let them work to their passions. If they love their work, they’ll feel motivated to get it done!
3. Communicate
67% of workers in the United States aren’t feeling engaged. When you let people fall into the background, they’ll start to feel their voice isn’t heard.
As you determine how to motivate a team, prioritize honest, open communication.
You can’t learn about their concerns if you’re not talking to your team. Communicating can help you discover their attitudes, concerns, and personal goals. As you interact together, you’ll discover new team motivation ideas for getting everyone engaged.
Make sure to actively listen to these concerns.
If you’re not listening (or it seems you don’t care), your employees will take notice.
4. Set Clear Goals
Your team will feel like they’re wasting their time if they don’t know why they’re focused on certain tasks.
Instead of delegating assignments that “need to get done,” sit down and talk with your team. Set specific, achievable goals. Then, break those goals down into tactics and projects that need to get done.
When your team knows what they’re working toward, they’ll feel more motivated to achieve that goal.
You can also help your team members create goals for their own growth. What do they hope to achieve as part of your team? How do they hope to grow?
Offer opportunities for self-improvement. Help your employees learn and grow their skills. Providing them with training opportunities to advance their career will benefit your business, too.
5. Don’t Micromanage
It’s difficult to motivate your team to work harder when their second-guessing every decision they make. Instead of micromanaging, reevaluate your goals again. Clearly defining your goals will help your team members recognize the steps they need to take.
That way, they can work with confidence without doubts slowing down their progress.
Cutting back on micromanaging will free up your time to focus on how to motivate a team instead.
6. Make People Feel Appreciated
A little appreciation can go a long way. Your team is putting all of their time, energy, and effort into producing results. Reward their hard work by showing them you appreciate the effort.
Consider different ways you can show your gratitude.
Some companies use cash bonuses. However, you can also show gratitude with a team lunch, a kind email, or praising an employee of the month.
Showing your appreciation will motivate your team to work harder in the future.
7. Create a Little Healthy Competition
A little competition can light a fire under your team members.
Create internal competitions and establish a reward system.
For example, you can offer your employees the chance to win these unique crystal awards for their hard work. A reward creates an incentive, motivates individuals to work harder, and fosters a little friendly competition.
Challenging tasks can also motivate your team members to expand their skill set and work harder. Repeating the same tasks gets boring. Challenging them with something new can motivate employees in new, exciting ways.
8. Automate Repetitive Tasks
If you can, automate repetitive, monotonous tasks. These boring activities can leave your team feeling unmotivated to work at a higher capacity.
If you can’t automate these tasks, rotate them out to different members within the team.
Instead of leaving one employee to do these tasks all day, every day, you can let them work to their full potential with new, exciting activities.
9. Encourage Ideas & Creativity
Your employees want to know you’re listening. Empower your team members by allowing them to suggest new ideas. You might be surprised by what they come up with.
This will encourage team members to take initiative. It also gets them involved in building your company.
How to Motivate a Team: 9 Amazing Methods for Motivating
Teamwork does make the dream work, especially when your team is excited to work. Now that you know how to motivate a team, start using these methods. Fuel their fire and watch your team succeed!
Check the Business section of the blog for more great tips!
