Your team is losing motivation. What can you do to build a positive culture?

In my experience as a leader, and a follower, if your team loses motivation, you are probably missing something. Typically breaking up the routine with some fun teambuilding events a few times in a row will kickstart everyone's chemistry again. Face to face time is most valuable in a digital world.

One thing I've found helpful is to acknowledge and celebrate individual and team achievements. Recognizing hard work and contributions boosts morale and reinforces a positive culture. This can be done publicly during team meetings or through written messages.

- Foster a positive culture by publicly appreciating small achievements in team meetings. - Connect with individuals to align personal goals with benefits, emphasizing the value of their contributions. - Coordinate with HR to engage in team-building activities to boost morale. - Maintain clear and transparent communication, addressing concerns promptly. - Conduct regular follow-ups to ensure alignment with goals. Demonstrate trust and understanding by allowing flexibility in work arrangements. This holistic approach enhances the overall team culture.

Tailor recognition to individual preferences, whether it’s public praise or a personal note. Encourage peer recognition with programs like 'employee of the month.' Celebrate team milestones with events or ceremonies. Promote professional growth through learning opportunities, and offer flexible rewards like gift cards or extra time off. Provide consistent feedback, foster a collaborative work environment, and engage in team-building activities. Maintain transparency about company goals to create a sense of shared purpose. The key is consistent, genuine appreciation for your team's efforts.

A burnt-out team needs to be heard, I want to know what is causing the burnout and what they think is needed. So communication is key, I'd also celebrate them, nothing motivates like recognition and the feeling of being valued. I'd also encourage some measure of free-think, bring a new perspective to achieving our goals, some latitude in getting results that empowers the team to be out of the box in their approach.

Create a safe space for people to share their feelings. Set the expectation that the purpose is to share how they’re feeling, what can be changed and offer ideas to get there. The more I co-create with the team, the more invested each member is and everyone has a sense of pride in arriving at the final outcome. Check in often to see how morale is improving.

You need to understand what your team members need and what nurtures them: do they need new activities? more visibility? a new training? helping them to move a position? You will not get all the answers at once. You need to observe and propose help when you feel it is needed.

Clear communication is essential for effective collaboration, reducing misunderstandings, and fostering a positive work environment. When employers communicate clearly, it enhances employee understanding of expectations, goals, and tasks, leading to improved productivity. It also helps build trust, as transparent communication fosters an open and honest relationship.

Not only do we need to have regular meetings with the team; whenever possible we need to talk with team members individually. The best way to connect and encourage open communication is to model this, while showing the team lead has an interest in each team member.

Setting clear expectations and goalposts are important for any team to feel like they are “getting anywhere” with their work. By communicating these clearly, it’s easier for your team to get to the finish line together.

Empowering employees instills a sense of ownership and responsibility, fostering a more motivated and engaged workforce. When individuals feel empowered, they are likely to be more creative, take initiative, and contribute innovative ideas. This not only benefits the employee's personal growth but also positively impacts the organization's adaptability and competitiveness in the long run.

Empowering team members communicates trust and allows for growth in confidence and role scope. It also frees up the leadership to focus on larger team opportunities rather than being mired in the day to day that the team is both qualified and capable to do. Empowering the team creates opportunity for coaching and for transformation. If the team has confidence in themselves in the role they will speak up with ways to improve and streamline processes. It’s an all around win.

In my experience mindset and mental toughness is key in any business. Invest in your team's professional growth through training, workshops, or mentoring programs. This not only enhances their skills but also shows your commitment to their career advancement

Empowering your team is vital to keeping them motivated and builds trust in you as the leader. Give them the ability to solve problems and make decisions without you, let them own the decision and grow from whatever the outcome is. If you can't trust them to do that, it's time for you to ask yourself why they are in the role in the first place.

To reenergize our team, offer autonomy in decision-making and project involvement, and enhance skills through targeted workshops. Regular individual check-ins will emphasize our commitment to their growth. Implement 'Innovation Time' for creativity and maintain transparent communication about company goals. Introduce a unique recognition system for achievements and promote collaboration through team workshops. Flexible work schedules and wellness programs will support their well-being and work-life balance. Empowering members with project leadership roles will foster a motivated, cohesive team, essential for success.

Celebrating success in work and life is important. While team celebrations are terrific, so too are the small moments “catching people doing a good job” - knowing you are seen and appreciated helps build a good culture.

Celebrating the successes of your team, big or small, is important in instilling a sense of pride in the work your team does, but also in reinforcing that their hard work is visible and it is being noticed. A lot of times we tend to focus on only the negative and what needs to be improved. It’s important to highlight the positive more often.

Let your team know how much you appreciate what they do regularly and celebrate their successes. This is one of the most underrated leadership skills today. Everyone wants feedback, both positive and constructive.

Inclusivity is paramount in team building, team motivation and increased success. Giving every team member an opportunity to express their input, their way. For instance, some team members may do better in expressing their thoughts outside of team meetings, with Management; they must be trained on the need for them to share it within the team setting. Leadership should know each team member's strongest and weakest point so that they can pair team members to help each other work on the weak spots and hone the strong ones. The team must feel important, relevant, respected and challenged. Celebrating milestones give the spotlight to each win, thus, letting the team know that it all matters, it all works in the success model.

Absolutely. Acknowledge that everyone has a life outside of work. In my organisation, we promote a healthy work-life harmony by respecting personal time and encouraging breaks. When we prioritise employee well-being, both physically and mentally, we become more productive and focused during work hours.

Employee well-being should be a top priority. Period. This comes with leaders recognizing that outside factors and their personal lives, affect their well-being in the workplace. It is ignorant to assume everyone can shut it off when they walk in the door and be exceptional employees. Encouraging employees to take breaks when they want to (not need to), take mental health days, take the time for necessary health check-ups and appointments, healthy snacks, allow hybrid work schedules, and an open door policy are just a few things leaders can do to support the well-being of their workforce. When you can show them, and take action, rather than simply say you support them - you'll see an improvement.

Work-life balance is an area that Leaders need to focus on promoting. What does that "promoting" look like? It takes genuine concern for the team members, outside of the normal scope of business, not only looking at meeting the financial goals but looking at the fact that your employees are human and need to feel a connection, a sense of care and concern for their wellbeing. It's not just about their production, meeting quotas. It's about their families, accessing their areas of struggle (on a personal scale) in addition to professionally. Are they healthy? How can they excel and exceed if they're not healthy? Is the company focusing on bridging the gap between work and home life? Professional life is directly related to personal life.

Supporting employee well-being can lead to increased job satisfaction, productivity, and overall morale. Healthy and satisfied employees are likely to be more engaged, less stressed, and contribute positively to the workplace environment. Additionally, prioritizing well-being can reduce absenteeism and turnover, ultimately benefiting the company's bottom line.

We must remember that our team members have a life outside their jobs. So many owners and bosses expect their team members to have the same sense of urgency or care as much as they do. They need to remember they aren't the owner or the boss, so they won't care as much as them.

Building trust is a main source to build a positive culture when your team is lacking motivation. Trust is essential for all relationships especially team relationships. When you build trust you can have a chance to build a special connection with your team members. In order to inspire your team members to be more motivated they must trust you to be willing to listen to you.

Have a career check up meeting with your employees. It is important to understand what your people are striving towards and what they want to accomplish from their careers. It could be career stability, it could be the next promotion in their current chain of command or maybe it is a different direction entirely in a separate department. As a result of that meeting you can gain agreement if they are doing the right activities to head in whichever direction they are striving for. You can agree on some short term goals that are lined up with their aspirations and reschedule another review meeting at a later date. The employee will feel "heard" and you will have an up to date understanding of what they truly value.

If your team is losing morale, consider their workload. If you have made objectives clear, communicate regularly, treat each individual with respect, and encourage critical feedback, your team might simply be overloaded. Do you need to loop in another team member, engage a consultant, or new hire to support your employees? Make time to have one on one discussions to gain a sense of their perceived bandwidth and make adjustments accordingly. While you are making those adjustments, host an impromptu activity. If you can’t get the group together in person, host something online – make it fun, give away prizes, and don’t penalize them with additional work afterward. Act with integrity and compassion and morale will strengthen.

Sometimes setting smaller, attainable goals can arrest the morale slide. Setting a target you know people can hit can at least put points on the board, and get people into a winning mindset again. Secondly, verify assumptions. I find that negative outlook can sometimes be caused by something that SEEMS to be going badly, but when you drill into the data and quantify it, it's really going fine. There may be one or two prominent instances where things went wrong and the emotional toll causes you to feel like things are spinning out of control. But it was actually just one thing that really sucked but was an isolated instance.

Always ask for feedback on your team on how you are doing as a leader. Give them the ability to hold you accountable; you'll be surprised by how they respond to you and the trust you build.

Be kind and be human. It's pretty simple. Too often we are intimidated unnecessarily by our leaders, and others, in the office, thinking they are some form of super human. That form of thinking can be debilitating and hinder you from reaching your potential, and unmotivate you more than you realize. But, they aren't super humans, they're just regular people who had to be fed with a spoon early on in their life too. It's not rocket science!