There are two angles to motivation – intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic emanates from within while extrinsic is drawn from external forces. Most business leaders tend to rely on extrinsic motivation in form of perks, incentives, penalties and more. To build a winning team culture, business owners need to focus on creating intrinsic motivation because the impact of incentives on the productivity of employees is minimal and it’s just short term.
Intrinsic motivation is the way to go, by inspiring those you lead to do a great work for the love of the job not because not because of the prize or plaque they will get after winning a game or bonuses for ‘Best Employee of the Month’. Here are some tips on how to keep your team always motivated:
Never underestimate ‘small wins’ – ‘Tiny drops of water make a mighty ocean’, this is a popular saying and it is one of the secrets of many successful people today – breaking down Titanic goals into discrete chunks. Most people tend to feel discouraged when confronted with a large and daunting challenge. But instead of focusing on the big picture, as a team leader, you can break the task into small steps. This will spur the employees to work more effectively thereby achieving small wins. The value of ‘Small Wins’ tend to be underestimated probably because of its size but these tiny gold stars enable your team to focus on progressing steadily while motivating them to work towards the big picture.
Encourage personal development – As an entrepreneur, you need to give your employees the opportunity to develop and hone their skills. This can be either through in-house training, workshops or reinforcing skill building by using external resources. Encouraging your employees to develop themselves professionally will no doubt stir up their intrinsic motivation and motivate them to work even harder.
Invest in building quality relationships – Entrepreneurs should endeavour to create bonds that cut across the team members because employees are encouraged when their boss makes concerted efforts to know them and also shows genuine interest in their welfare. This is more than just going out for lunch or sending them birthday wishes. Building quality relationships with your employees bolster their attitude towards work as they become invested in the company’s success.
Celebrate the effort not the outcome – Positive reinforcements are essential towards bolstering the productivity of employees. But when praising any of your team members for their contribution either small or big, bare in mind, it’s best to reward the efforts, not the person. Studies have shown that generalised compliments such as, ‘You are a genius’, ‘You are nailed it’ may not really have any impact on the motivation of the employee. Recognizing people for their performance such as ‘You executed the project effectively’ or ‘Your attention to details was a critical tool towards the success of the campaign’ will help them to understand what made them successful and encourage them to work harder.
Try these today and see how strangely energized your team members will become.
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