As a new manager, you have just achieved one of your biggest goals – assembling the perfect dream team. You spent days hiring people, finding just the right person for every single role. Your team members hold flawless backgrounds as well as established track records of accomplishment. The initial three months went by perfectly. Your team started out strong with fresh ideas and high energy. But lately, not so much. Does this situation sound familiar to you?
If this is something you are experiencing, then the bad news is your team has run out of motivation. But the good news is, this is a quite common and fixable problem.
Here are some proven ways by which you can reignite the spark you once witnessed in your team.
Inculcate Leadership
Watching a great leader work acts as a great motivational tool for employees. Great leaders tend to work closely with the employees. Setting a good example is the first step to inculcate leadership. In fact, strong leadership will bring out the leadership qualities and instincts of your team members as well. Supportive leadership indicates that the leader’s expectation will impact how the employees see themselves. Hence, if you look at your employees in the light of being successful, they will see it too and work hard to not let you down.
Useful Resources:
20 Leadership Blogs You Should be Reading Every Week– yourthoughtpartner.com
Top Leadership Blogs & Podcasts for 2020– experiencetolead.com
The 25 best Management & leadership blogs– thebestcolleges.org
Become a Better Leader: 11 of the Best Leadership Blogs– freshbooks.com
9 leadership blogs to build your management skills– turbinehq.com
The Top 100 Socially-Shared Leadership Blogs– cmoe.com
Leader Pulse, Leadership ideas, trends, and smarts– ddiworld.com
Top 20 Most Inspiring Leadership Blogs– gordontredgold.com
25 Leadership Blogs for Small Businesses– mpstarfinancial.com
Top 10 Inspirational Leadership Blogs– envisio.com
Create A Positive Work Environment
To motivate employees, you need to invest in your workspace. External factors like workspace directly influence the morale of your employees. Hence, create a space that reflects the values and vision of your company. This environment will help keep your employees motivated and also help them take pride in what they do.
Useful Resources:
17 Office Design Blogs You Should Read and Follow– thereceptionist.com
How to Create and Maintain a Safe Work Environment– connect.informs.org
5 Creative Seating Themes for Collaborative Work Environment– hni-india.com
Healthy Work Environment in a Small Business– prisomtechnology.com
Frequent and Open Communication
Communicating openly is a reliable way to motivate employees and improve overall office morale. When the lines of communication are open, your employees feel comfortable with your relationship which in turn motivates them. Try to have frequent one on ones with your team members. Make them feel heard. This will positively impact your relationship with them and help you bring everyone on the same page.
Useful Resources:
Internal blogs, what’s the point?– commsagency.co.uk
Communication Challenges with Family and Friends– mentalhelp.net
Effective Communication, Better Science– blogs.scientificamerican.com
A Playbook For Marketing And Communications– go.forrester.com
Encourage Teamwork
When you encourage teamwork in your company, it will promote an atmosphere that fosters friendship as well as loyalty. This results in close-knit relationships, which in turn, motivates employees together and aligns them to work harder, be more cooperative and supportive of one another. Moreover, teamwork allows individuals to brainstorm collectively, which increases their success in problem-solving and coming up with solutions more effectively.
Useful Resources:
Workplace Collaboration Shapes the Way to Success– lntinfotech.com
Nurturing teamwork– yescompetitions.co.uk
4 teamwork lessons you can learn from the military– hrzone.com
5 Questions to Assess Teamwork Within IT– bmc.com
Why teamwork and collaboration drive worker engagement– orange-business.com
Rewards & Recognition
In simple words, giving recognition to employees for their efforts and rewarding them for achieving their goals is the best way to keep them motivated to work harder. These methods can be both monetary as well as non-monetary. However, most people are under the impression that only monetary rewards are successful. This cannot be less true. Rewards are less about what they are and more about how they make people feel. Even a simple pat on the back can go a long way for some people.
Useful Resources:
Engage Blog: Top 10 HR Blogs– achievers.com
Turn your intranet into the ultimate employee recognition tool– unily.com
5 must-haves for a modern employee recognition pro– trainingzone.co.uk
The Complete Guide to Employee Reward and Recognition– paydata.co.uk
Foster Employee Growth
Every business invests in a bunch of things to improve itself. But the most valuable resource for any company is its manpower. Hence it is important to invest in their growth and development. Be it in the form of on-the-job training, skills workshops, or cross-departmental collaborations, every employer must invest in giving their employees opportunities to better themselves. Moreover, when they see growth in a company, it will motivate employees to work harder and achieve more.
Useful Resources:
A Fixed or Growth Mindset? What it Means for Your Organisation– imi.ie
Importance of Training & Development in Organizations– husys.com
Top 10 Employee Training Blogs for Business Leaders– blog.playerlync.com
10 Employee Engagement Blogs That All Managers Should Know About– coburgbanks.co.uk
Set S.M.A.R.T. Goals
Setting S.M.A.R.T. goals is 0ne of the most effective ways to motivate employees. S.M.A.R.T. stands for:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Attainable
- Relevant
- Time-based
When you set S.M.A.R.T. goals for your employees, they will be motivated to achieve them. Setting huge unattainable goals will only bring their morale down. S.M.A.R.T. goals let the employees focus on what is important and also reminds them which activities you want to see more of. Since these goals will be realistic in nature, employees will thrive and perform to their very best in order to achieve them.
Useful Resources:
A Compendium of Goal Setting Blogs-melissagratias.com
6 Goal Setting Blogs to Help You Achieve Success– healthyfamiliesbc.ca
The 7 Best Blogs on Goal Achievement– pickthebrain.com
Goal Set to get back on Track– mollyfletcher.com
The Power of Setting Goals– gameplan-a.com
Practice Transparency At Work
A lack of transparency can destroy the trust and credibility that you have worked so hard to maintain at your company. The last thing you want is for your employees to misinterpret your fear of leaking critical information with a lack of trust. Plus, leaving your employees in the dark creates a space for them to assume the worst. Hence, practicing transparency in your workplace is a great way to build trust. And when employees trust their leadership, they are motivated to deliver what is expected from them.
Useful Resources:
Through the Looking Glass– kyledavidgroup.com
Why Salary Transparency Is Important?– ana.net
How to Create a Transparent Culture at Workplace-hrzone.com
How Transparency Helps in Building a Better Organization-blogs.quovantis.com
Celebrate Wins – Big or Small
Gratitude and appreciation can only go so far. Hence, it is recommended to celebrate those wins, no matter how big or small they might be. Always find time to celebrate your success. Nothing will get people happier than a party! A party doesn’t mean going all out and booking a venue or a DJ. It could be a small celebration like a team lunch. Of course, once a year you can go all out and rent a catering service, a venue, a DJ and just dance it out!
This will not only motivate your team to reach their goals on time but also help in maintaining overall positive vibes at work. A small gathering like these with friends and colleagues is very relaxing and will surely keep your team’s spirits up and buzzing!
Useful Resources:
Celebrate the wins– junesuperfoods.com
5 Big Wins Worth Celebrating On International Day of the Girl– blogs.savethechildren.org.uk
11 Ways to Celebrate Your Big Wins– paperfinch.com
Focus on your hits rather than your miss– hmagazine.wharton.upenn.edu
Celebrating My Health Wins– shethinx.com
While there is no one particular method to work for everyone, try mixing and matching a few things from this list and see how it changes the morale of your team members. Remember, no two people are the same. Hence, what works for one may not work for others. But as a manager, it is your job to try and come through for your people.
