Motivating your team is one of the most important skills you can develop as a team manager. A motivated team is more productive, creative, and engaged, and can achieve better results and satisfaction. But how can you motivate your team effectively? In this article, we will share some practical tips and techniques that you can apply to inspire and empower your team.
The first step to motivate your team is to understand what drives them, what challenges them, and what rewards them. Everyone has different preferences, goals, and values, and you need to tailor your approach accordingly. You can use various tools and methods to assess your team's motivation, such as surveys, interviews, feedback sessions, or personality tests. By understanding your team, you can also identify their strengths and weaknesses, and help them grow and develop.
Asking questions like, "If you were king for a day on this new project, what would you do first?" I can tell a lot about people in how they answer verbally and non-verbally. I pay attention to what they "show" me, not just what they say.
Stop trying to motivate people! Sticks and carrots are not sustainable unless you're leading a team of donkeys! Find out what it is that lights people up - taps their sense of purpose - and give them that. Inspire, don't motivate.
The second step to motivate your team is to communicate your vision clearly and consistently. Your vision is the purpose and direction of your team, and it should be aligned with the organization's mission and values. Your vision should be inspiring, realistic, and measurable, and it should answer the question: why are we doing what we are doing? By communicating your vision, you can create a sense of meaning and belonging for your team, and motivate them to contribute to a common goal.
I also ask for transparency and share realistic dreams realized as examples I've experienced while walking the Agile path of "Changing the World of Work." (Scrum Alliance.org)
Empowering a team with a clear vision not only guides them towards taking ownership of your plan but also fosters effective partnership.
I coach my teams on setting the vision together. This gives immediate buy-in and ownership for the team vision. It also helps establish team values collectively. When establishing the team vision the team gets to know each other better and learn what is important to each other. The return on building the team vision as a team is tremendous!
Remember your team that we are all sailing on the same ship no matter who owns it, we need to make sure to keep it sailing and above water.
The third step to motivate your team is to set SMART goals. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound, and it is a framework for defining and tracking your team's objectives. SMART goals help you to clarify your expectations, monitor your progress, and celebrate your achievements. By setting SMART goals, you can motivate your team to focus on the outcomes, rather than the activities, and to challenge themselves to improve and learn.
At the beginning of the year, everyone on the team sets their SMART goals for personal and career growth. I have regular one on one meetings every 1-2 weeks with each team member. During this time we discuss and document their accomplishments, strategize on their challenges, and coach on areas that require improvement. At the end of the year they have documentation for all their accomplishments, challenges they have provided solutions, and areas they have improved. They then use this to advocate for themselves for their year end evaluation. This motivates the entire team to do incredible work with measurable data that is meaningful to leaders. It is highly effective at motivating each team member. Effectively amplifying team motivation.
The fourth step to motivate your team is to provide feedback and recognition. Feedback is the information you give to your team about their performance, behavior, and attitude, and it should be constructive, timely, and balanced. Feedback helps you to correct mistakes, reinforce positive actions, and encourage growth. Recognition is the appreciation you show to your team for their efforts, results, and contributions, and it should be specific, sincere, and frequent. Recognition helps you to boost morale, build trust, and reward excellence.
An attentive and approachable manager plays a pivotal role in creating a supportive environment, where the team feels valued and heard.
I ensure everyone on the team has a regular 1:1 with me. We discuss and document their SMART goal accomplishments, challenges, and coach on areas of improvement. I also ask, everyone everytine, who went out of their way to help them. Or did they observe someone going above and beyond. Then in our weekly team meetings I go through all of the “Shout Outs” I have collected from my one on ones. Recognition from your peers is more powerful than any other recognition, in my experience. It creates camaraderie, pride within the team, and pride in a job well done. In my experience doing peer recognition, I have seen average professionals turn into extraordinary rockstars and average teams unite to become thriving high performing teams.
The fifth step to motivate your team is to empower your team. Empowering your team means giving them the autonomy, responsibility, and authority to make decisions, solve problems, and take actions that affect their work. Empowering your team also means providing them with the resources, support, and guidance they need to succeed. By empowering your team, you can motivate them to take ownership, initiative, and accountability for their work, and to unleash their potential and creativity.
Empowering your teams to achieve success and encouraging them to learn from their failures can lead to growth and continuous improvement.
The #1 way to empower your team is to be part of the team. I tell all the teams I’m part of the team as “the manager.” It is just another role on the team like their role. If we don’t all play our roles than nothing will work. We succeed and learn as a team. Engineering is a team sport. Not an individual sport. It takes everyone to be successful. Bosses create anxiety and fear. Team mates work together, help each other out. Team mates have each other’s backs and ensure everyone is successful. Being part of the team as a leader creates new leaders. It also creates autonomy, ownership, accountability, and empowers everyone on the team to play their role to the very best of their abilities.
The sixth step to motivate your team is to foster a positive culture. A positive culture is the shared set of values, norms, and behaviors that shape how your team interacts, collaborates, and communicates. A positive culture should be based on trust, respect, and diversity, and it should promote learning, innovation, and fun. By fostering a positive culture, you can motivate your team to feel valued, supported, and inspired, and to enjoy their work and their colleagues.
Set up a living working agreement with the team. Where collectively everyone has a say in how the team works together. Identify team values that help organize work, knowledge sharing, and resolving difficult situations. Working agreements help teams consciously work together better. Keeping it updated with new team members helps the new team members feel instantly accepted and valued. Gives them a voice for how they work best. Working agreements set the foundation for a growth mindset within the team. Having a growth mindset fosters innovation and creativity. Teams do incredible work when they aren’t distracted by emotional conflict. Having a growth mindset is the only way to have a fantastic culture.
Make it okay to make mistakes as long as they are within reason. Value learning from them. Create a space where your team can have differences and ultimately accept better possibilities for better outcomes. Feedback is delivered with empathy and compassion. Unburden your team by creating psychological safety so they can apply their best self and grow.
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