HOW DO WE MOTIVATE PEOPLE IN THE WORKPLACE?
Some simple ideas for involving and engaging people.
Motivating people is a chore, but a worthwhile one since it has so many impacts on so many aspects of people and performance.
Group dynamics often make motivating teams of people pretty straightforward, since groups like challenges and problem solving and peer pressures can generally work in your favor. Getting a team of people focused and aligned on an improvement process is often easier than working with individuals. Motivating individually can be pretty complex when you are looking to add extrinsic motivators to the mix. The intrinsic motivators are better, and these can also result from team efforts.
Our flagship team building exercise focuses on issues of collaboration and cooperation as well as having themes of planning and leadership. Team motivation is a critical component of driving success and generating positive energy.
We occasionally get a chance to play the game with groups of HR and training people, so we sometimes try to get their thinking on the links of the teambuilding game to the issues they see in the workplace. Sometimes, those perspectives are helpful, although we also recognize the reality that,
A desk is a dangerous place from which to view the world.
In tabletop discussions, players brainstorm, identify and discuss possibilities that could be implemented in the debriefing, so as to generate responses, since the same dynamics occur as players talk about their missed opportunities, the similarities of the play to work, and what they might choose to do differently back on the job.
Facilitating with groups of 5 to 6 at a tabletop, you avoid the issues common to larger “committees” of people such as the domination of discussion by a single individual. People in small groups are much more likely to express their feelings, ideas and opinions, especially after a shared emotional experience. Consensus and peer support is more likely to be generated, something critical to the need to build trust and to instigate and implement change.
Here is what people said to a few of these questions relating to team motivation:
People become energized by:
- Shared Goals and Collaboration
- Feeling Trusted and giving trust to others
- Sufficient Resources
- Understanding “How Things Really Work”
- Shared Risks and Rewards
- Challenges and Difficulty
- Feedback on Progress
- Time limits on Performance
- Music, Hats, and Fun!
We become de-energized by:
- Insufficient Resources
- Unclear Procedures / Processes
- Conflicting Goals & Objectives
- Excessive Competition & Risk
- Everyday Competition, Power & Politics
- Systems and Procedural Issues
- Lack of Deadlines
I always find it interesting to get the people doing the work to talk, in a collaborative way, about what they could choose to improve and why they would want to do it. There is a tremendous energy that can be tapped if they are engaged and involved and feel part of the initiative, rather than having things pushed on them. And having the group discuss such issues and opportunities often helps to generate the team motivation and drive to get things done.
See more about The Search for The Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine at our main company website and on our informational site at https://performancemanagementcompany.com
Note that there are also a LOT of posts in the blog that have all kinds of links to different aspects of team building. As I edit this page, I see that there are over 300 different posts, most of which are on issues of motivation and engagement.
You might find this post on intrinsic motivation to be of interest. Click on the image which is a link:
You might also find this blog of images to be of interest:
Have FUN out There!
Dr. Scott Simmerman is a designer of team building games and organization improvement tools. Managing Partner of Performance Management Company since 1984, he is an experienced presenter and consultant. Connect with Scott on Google+ – you can reach Scott at scott@squarewheels.com
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