4 Steps to Motivate Your Team

There is no set of rules that one should follow when it comes to motivating employees. We each have our own driving force when it comes to doing an excellent job at work. A working mother could be motivated by her children, who serve as her inspiration to succeed. A trainee who is fresh out of college is motivated by the compulsion to learn and climb to the top. A long-time company employee will get motivated to perform well so that he or she can be promoted. Others are motivated by financial rewards. As a manager, team leader, department head or supervisor, you need to determine the individual driving forces of those who are in your team so that you can create a motivated workforce.

Goals for Employee Motivation:

- Increase employee performance at work

- Spice up team spirit and build a cohesive team

- Eliminate individual differences and avoid conflicts

- Have an open communication between peers

- Set and achieve a common goal

1. Lead by Example

There is a joke that says that the new definition of a boss is one who is always early when you are late and who is always late when you are not. Do not let this apply to you. Be consistent. The simple gesture of arriving before or as the same time as your employees will show them how much you value their time and yours. This is also a good way of showing employees that you respect the company that pays you for your time at work. If you do come in late, apologize to those that work for you and explain why you are late. This is so that they would not think that the no-late policy does not apply to the boss, showing them that you are equals when it comes to company rules and policies.

2. Keep Communication Lines Open

Some employees are afraid to talk to, or even look at superiors who exude the touch-me-not aura. This is not a good way to motivate your employees. When you come to work, do not just go straight to your office and deal with your paper works. Mingle with the employees and ask them about their previous day, on what they have accomplished so far. Then you can tell them about the output that you expect by the end of the day. This way, you would know what to expect from the employees and vice-versa. It will not only help you set a goal for the day but with this, you are also optimizing your interaction with the employees by mingling with them on a more casual basis. Also, when you leave for the day, take 10 to 15 minutes to go to each team member and thank them for a hard day’s work. You cannot imagine how much this means to your team. When I was a restaurant manager, every time I walked in or walked out, every team member from my managers to my dish washers got a hand shake, a fist bump or a high five along with a thank you for being here. At first, your team will look at you like you are crazy, but within a few weeks, they will expect it and look forward to it. 

3. Share What You Know

Do not be selfish. Sometimes, a company does not grow because there are employees who know something advanced about the industry or a certain aspect of the company, and they are not willing to share their knowledge to others. They think that this would make them invaluable to the company, especially if they are the only ones who know about a process or idea. This attitude would not help your company succeed. There should always be a sharing of knowledge. When an employee is asked to train abroad, they are often asked to sign a contract that they should not resign for the next year or two. Why do you think this is so? Imagine what would happen if the employee who trained abroad or attended an exclusive seminar about an advanced technology on the industry just up and leaves right after the training. A company would not spend thousands of dollars to train an employee for nothing. They want you to share and impart the knowledge to your fellow employees. If you share a new technology to your entire team, who knows what newer and better ideas the knowledge would bring? Do not stutter the company's growth by keeping your ideas to yourself.

4. Implement Your Ideas

What good would a new idea or technology do if you do not apply it? After sharing the knowledge, gather the team and think of ways to improve the company's operation with what you all have learned. As a leader, you should be a people person. You must know how to adopt to the things that motivate your team members and use this knowledge to your advantage. Without a good and solid workforce behind you, you will not accomplish anything. You may have ten or a hundred employees, but if you apply these steps to motivate your team, you can bring out the best in them and contribute towards your company's growth and success.

While there are many more things that you can do to motivate your team, here are four easy things that you can walk away and implement immediately. You will be surprised how far small gestures like this will go to make your team appreciate and trust you even more than they already do.