Motivation through hard times!

Dave is 29 years old this December, a father of two kids, he has been married for 7 years, he owns a 2014 Honda Accord and he believes in quality in everything, Dave is a new manager.Because of his dedication, he was appointed to be a a software development manager in his multinational organization that holds a fancy stylish modern name, let's call it "Fat Cat Chat".

Dave has a team of 7 young people who are experts in software development, same as Dave a couple of month ago before being promoted. Everyday, they have a morning stand-up meeting for 15 min, where they discuss daily tasks and any challenges they have, or might have.

Dave, on his day-to-day interactions with the team realizes the disengagement tone in the air, he is really worried that he is not doing the right thing when it comes to motivating his team.

"I'm sorry Davy boy, but we are cutting costs as you know, and Team building for sure is not on our Agenda!", Says his boss every time Dave asks for a team building!

Dave has a misconception that Motivation always comes with a price tag!

Here are some ideas that Dave could use to motivate his team till the "Cutting Cost" wave is over:

Leap of Faith!

As a fact, your brain size is shrinking if you keep doing the same thing the same way, show your team and yourself how to do your daily routine in a new way, ask for opinions, and make it count!

Example 1: Have your weekly or daily meeting outdoor every now and then.

Example 2: Develop an in-house tool/process to serve the business and make their daily routine easier!

With Every business interest, comes a Personal Interest!

Be Transparent, Don't promise things you can't fulfill!

A golden rule, this mistake is common and the consequences are mostly beyond repair.

Don't promise what you can't do or beyond your authority, this sounds basic but sometimes you do it subconsciously, you need to tell your team the truth and explain to them your capacity to handle their issues while you totally understand their concerns.

Example 1: Tell them that your organization is undergoing "OPEX cutting" and ask them to come with initiatives towards that goal which will be appreciated in the future!

Example 2: Share with them the business pain and the decision making!

Grow'em Horizontally!

Give them room to grow, to do things their own ways, manage their expectations, make one day every month and name it "The Boss Day" where one of your team is now in charge, this will help them realize the bigger picture and and understand how's the boss's responsibilities feels like!

Example : Do a cycle of delegation and 360 degrees feedback sessions!

Shake it off!

Every while, challenge your team to do something new or to learn something new! You can nominate a book to read and then you discuss it during lunch or during commuting with them, this will add a lot of bonding power to your relationship with them and will teach them that simple changes can do magic!

Show them free ways of self-development!

edx, Udemy, Coursera...etc! All are online educations platform that offer hundreds of courses for free, from programming to cooking skills!

Your team can explore different opportunities to grow once they educate themselves and get to know how the world is pretty much more dynamic than before!