How do you measure and communicate the impact of your team's motivation on performance and results?

Very much agree with the categorization listed here. In past experience if you find that leveraging intrinsic motivation helps engage the individual at the heart and mind level and insures that they have a sustainable pathway to keep the motivation levels up.

Set Metrics: Establish specific performance metrics linked to motivation, like productivity and project completion rates. Conduct Surveys: Use regular surveys to gauge team motivation and relate findings to performance outcomes. Track Changes: Monitor performance before and after motivation strategies to see their effectiveness. Share Success Stories: Highlight examples where motivation led to improved results. Use Visuals: Create charts or graphs to show the correlation between motivation and performance. Provide Updates: Regularly update the team on performance and celebrate achievements tied to our motivation efforts.

Measuring motivation can be achieved using tools like the Work Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation Scale (WEIMS), which assesses motivation across six factors: intrinsic interest, intrinsic accomplishment, extrinsic identified, extrinsic introjected, extrinsic external, and extrinsic imposed. Higher scores indicate stronger motivation by that factor. For instance, a high score on intrinsic interest means the individual enjoys the work itself. In my experience, using such tools helped identify what drives my team. By understanding these motivations, I could tailor my approach, improving engagement and performance. Open communication about these findings also fostered transparency and trust.

Most managers are happy when their team is making progress. However, it's a mistake to congratulate them on their 'progress'. If you use 'progress', you tell them to look back and focus on past accomplishments. This makes them feel they can take their foot off the gas, given all they’ve already achieved. If you instead compliment them on their 'commitment' to the goal, they’ll look ahead: to the goal and the work that needs to be done. Research shows that people congratulated on their commitment to a goal make better future gains than people congratulated on their progress (Fishbach A, 2010). It’s the Principle of Consistency at work, which says that people have a strong desire to be consistent with their commitments (Cialdini R, 1984).

Understanding people's values and criteria is a good way to align work tasks to what motivates them the most. To help motivate individuals it's beneficial to know what key language words align best with their personal strategies. For instance, talking about outcomes to avoid will not engage well with someone who is focused on the benefits of a task.

Build a collective goal for the team, motivate for the finish. Progress is great, but we must an strong eye on the goal. Creating the goal collectively and with verbal and/or written commitment to the goal is the best motivator and allows the leader to use the consistency principle of persuasion to continually motivate the collective group.

There's a simple strategy to motivate your team and boost team performance. Research shows that when team members feel a sense of unity, they’re more likely to enhance cooperation, agreement, and helping (Balliet D, 2014). So, how can you enhance that feeling of unity? For example, by having them act together in coordinated or synchronized ways (Wheatley T, 2012). Therefore, rather than assigning team members subtasks to be done individually, have them work collectively or in small groups in coordinated and synchronized ways. So, have them create a sales pitch together or in small groups rather than assigning the complete task to one person. This will likely enhance team collaboration, increasing the chance of better outcomes.

Start by clearly articulating the importance of tracking motivation levels. Encourage open discussions about how motivation influences outcomes and recognize and reward team members who actively engage in this process. Provide regular updates on progress and share success stories highlighting the positive impact of increased motivation on performance. Utilize data and metrics to demonstrate the correlation between motivation and results, and involve the team in setting goals based on these insights to sustain motivation levels.