Great things are created through teamwork. When every member is encouraged to bring in their own skills, abilities, knowledge, and personality, the team stands strong for the benefit of the entire company.
Whether it’s creating a website, aiming for your target company goals, or a new product launch, incredible team results won’t just happen overnight.
In this article, we’ll tell you how you can motivate your team in order to reach your company goals and keep everyone happy and comfortable.
Create a welcoming workplace
As the team leader, invest your time and effort in taking care of the needs of your employees. Nothing is worse than a boring grey workspace without essential amenities. It can be as simple as making sure you offer them a clean office environment and sanitary restroom, natural light, and tasty free coffee to wake them up in the morning. As an extra you can also offer healthy snacks, a common space for phone calls and a break room where your employees can socialize.
Nobody wants to sit around in the first days on a new job. When you start at a new company you are super motivated and eager to learn. Create a warm on-boarding process to welcome new members properly and give them all the resources and know how so they are quickly up to speed in their new job and office space.
Focus on the strengths of each member
Every person has something special and unique that they can contribute to the team. Some employees might be highly organized and some employees can be natural leaders. Learn to recognize these strengths and make the most of them.
Allow your team members to feel motivated by passing along tasks which align with those unique strengths that make them who they are. They will feel valued and work more effectively than you could’ve imagined.
Explain the members purpose
The purpose of each team member in the organization is what keeps them motivated and the organization running. Remember to consistently remind the members about their purpose in achieving the set goals. You could plan a quarterly progress report where you celebrate their successes or remind them they need to stay focused on the goal they need to reach. And explain how their individual goals contribute to the overall workflow.
Set well-defined goals
Let each member understand what the goals of the organization are from the day they start. Great team motivation is achieved when each member understands their individual roles in the company goals. Also ensure that the goals are realistic by getting the members opinions on them. Create a follow-up plan to ensure that all the members are accountable and that they are still striving to fulfill their obligation.
Provide regular feedback
Let your team members know that they are valued by sharing regular feedback with them about their work. While doing so, acknowledge areas where they excelled, as well as areas where improvement is needed. Depending on the individual, you might want to be gentle or direct.
No matter how you do it, make sure it’s a routine act by creating calendar invites for regular feedback meetings, be it weekly, monthly, quarterly or project-based.
Request regular feedback
Just the same way you provide the workers with regular feedback, ask for feedback from them too. Yes, you will also have areas to work on and you also need their great ideas to help you manage the company. Involving them is a way to build a stronger team, so, accept criticism and honest feedback. When the members are involved in the decision-making process, they will feel more valued and comfortable while working.
Offer development opportunities
Offer your team members the chance to improve on their skills as well as to learn new ones. Through learning new skills, the members will feel valued, grow intellectually, and invest the skills back to the company. This will also motivate the members to stay in the company.
Avoid micromanagement
If you’re constantly giving every detail a second look, and potentially changing things that are already good enough, you’re guilty of micromanaging. This will overload you with extra work and stress just as much as it will give stress and extra work to your employees. Recognition is step one in finding a solution. Now, to change this going forward, with every new project make sure to provide your employees with proper direction and set defined goals from the start. Now it is time to take a step back and learn to trust your team members. The more you trust them the more relaxed they will feel at the office.
Reassess the meetings
We’re all guilty of hosting meetings that could be a 5 minute email. Your team is unlikely to feel motivated every time they have to sit in one of these awful meetings. Reevaluate the purpose of meetings that occur frequently, and see if it’s possible to eliminate any of these meetings. Or even take certain people off the meeting list that don’t actually need to be there.
Get out of the office
Every once in a while, leave the office and do a team building activity to boost the team motivation. I'm sure there are plenty of good bars offering "after work drinks specials on Friday". Having a more relaxed environment to talk with your team members about what they do out of the office hours will give you a more human and stronger connection to them. Take your time to speak to all of your members during an off-site event.