Motivation is an important part of any work environment. It keeps the team focused and energized. Assignments get completed, client relationships get stronger, and the workplace becomes a more pleasant place to be. There is no one right way to build this motivation, but there are some strategies that can help you find the right way for your team.
The first step is to start at the top. Motivation has a trickle-down effect. As the boss, you have to know how to motivate yourself to get work done. To do this, you need to ask yourself a few questions:
- Why do you do the work that you do?
- How do you want your work to make you feel?
- What is the most important part of the work that you do?
- How do you want your clients to feel?
- Do you know who your ideal client is?
Answers to these questions will vary depending on your industry and work style. After answering these questions, you can start to identify what your internal motivations are.
Once you know how to motivate yourself, you can work to build motivation for your employees. Getting to know your employees and the team you currently have is important. Schedule a series of one-on-one meetings with the members of your team. Ask them questions about who they are and why they chose to work in your industry. It helps you to understand the individual strengths of your team. As teams grow and change, so do their motivations. Keep a record of what works for each team. As things change, you may find that current strategies aren’t working. However, something you used in the past might help.
Some people are motivated by job security or having a steady paycheck. These are normal and common motivations. Your job as the boss is to add to this list. Find out how you can make the workplace better. One way to do this is to make sure there are support systems in place for your employees. This allows employees to anonymously point out problems in the workplace without feeling they are causing conflict.
No one wants workplace conflict. The best thing to do when these struggle points arise is to find a solution. Sit down with the team, possibly in a group meeting or several one-on-ones, to figure out where the root of the problem is. Then, look into ways to help. If the root happens to be an employee, dig a little deeper. Don’t blame the person because this will only make the situation worse. Find out what’s going on with them. Chances are they may not even realize they are causing an issue. Just help them understand how to correct the situation.
Something else to consider – who do you want your clients to be? You get to decide who you want to work with and why. You may decide you want to work with companies that share your business’ values. Or you want to work with people trying to reach a goal that your business believes in. Deciding who you want your clients to be is important, but so is knowing how you want your clients to treat your team.
Clients are people just like you and your employees. You need to know how your employees feel about working with clients. It’s important to look out for red flags early on when deciding if you want to work with a company.
- Are they respectful of your team and the work they are doing?
- Are they communicative and responsive to the work submitted to them?
- Do they give clear and consistent feedback?
- Do they understand hard deadlines?
- Are they pleasant to work with?
Knowing these things about your clients is crucial. It can tell you how your team feels about them and whether a client is worth working with. If your team is happy about the clients they work with, then they will be more interested in the work they are doing. It also promotes a healthy relationship between the boss and the team. If your team knows you value their input on clients and the type of work they are doing, there’ll be more trust between you both.
Creating motivation isn’t as ambiguous as it seems. It’s essentially removing problems and allowing people to get their work done. It’s about providing answers to questions that arise on a daily basis. It’s making sure employee goals are clear and everyone knows what they are doing. Motivation is just creating a work environment that suits the needs of you and your team.