Last Updated on May 27, 2023 by Dave Schoenbeck
Your results will flatline if you don’t have creative ways to motivate your team. Employees are most productive when happy with their jobs and emotionally engaged in the company culture. Inspiring and leading organizations are two duties that must be done exceptionally well to see continued financial growth and success.
Unmotivated teammates won’t stay at your company very long. If your team doesn’t care about their work, they won’t put in the extra effort to do it well. If you’re a business leader, you need to have a substantial cache of strategies to motivate your team if you want your company to thrive.
8 Team Motivation Tips
Learning to motivate your team is a process that evolves. Therefore, it would be best if you consistently looked for new strategies that will benefit your employees. If you’re not sure how to be an inspiring leader, these team motivation ideas can help:
- Listen carefully to what your people need, especially regarding roadblocks that keep them from doing their jobs effectively. Conduct frequent discussions and brainstorming sessions to show that you take their concerns seriously. Your employees are closest to your customers, so any obstacles that prevent them from doing their jobs well will hurt the business.
- Reinforce the purpose of your business. Your employees must understand why the company exists and the vision and mission statement. They also need to know your purpose as their leader. If there’s no bigger picture behind your business than making a profit, it will be hard to motivate your team. They need to be able to believe in your company.
- Be respectful to everyone on your team regardless of job, seniority, rank, or working style. Never show favoritism. Perceived favoritism is the catalyst for team breakdowns and dysfunctional behavior.
- Remove poor performers quickly. Everyone knows who the slackers are; chances are your employees are complaining that you haven’t realized it or are too afraid to fire them. No one will try to go above and beyond if mediocrity is rewarded the same as excellence. Your credibility increases when you respond urgently to poor performance.
- Celebrate successes passionately. We tend to focus on what isn’t done instead of what we have accomplished. Breathe, celebrate, congratulate, and acknowledge the contributors that make your wins happen.
- Encourage everyone to be intellectually curious. The only way to discover new ideas and processes is through curiosity. Give your employees the ability to branch out and learn more about skills or subjects they’re passionate about. It will bring a new level of dimension and understanding to their jobs.
- Emphasize job security. Your employees can’t work to the best of their abilities if their primary motivation is fear of getting fired. Ensure the disciplinary process is clear to all, so no one is worried they’ll be jobless without any notice.
- Offer incentives for success. Examples are promotions, title changes, pay raises, or bonuses. Smaller incentives might look like weekly company-wide emails recognizing individual achievements or a premium parking spot for top performers. If your employees have goals to work towards, they’ll be more motivated to give the job their best effort.
Are you looking for more ideas? I’ve compiled a list of 42 tips to help motivate your team. Click here to fill out the form and download your printable PDF of ways to boost your team.
Coach Dave
