Top 6 Tips for keeping your team motivated
When trying to lead a team and keep everyone motivated it can often seem like a minefield. Each person has a different personality and different needs and trying to accommodate everyone can seem like a difficult, daunting task, so we thought we would share a few ideas to help you along the way.
- Create an enjoyable working environment
The first and probably best place to start, is to make the working environment a pleasant place to be. For most people, more of their time will be spent at work than it will at home. So, for that reason you want to make the work place a really great place to be. This goes beyond offering a competitive salary or a great bonus scheme, its more about creating a great space where people feel comfortable and happy. First start by making your working place look happy; think about the décor and the layout of the room, could you make it a brighter space? A bit of paint and some office plants can really make a difference.
Another great way to engage staff is to offer incentives, an early finish for completing an important piece of work on time, or a treat for every five sales. It doesn’t have to be a grand gesture – you’ll be surprised how far a free packet of biscuits will go! If incentives aren’t something you think is suitable for your business, then what about a staff lunch once a month. Or a breakfast bar that allows all members of staff to enjoy some cereal or toast when they arrive at work.
Little changes like these will go along way in helping to keep your staff motivated and will show that you are really invested in creating a fun happy environment for everyone to work.
- Transparency
One important thing that is going to help you keep your staff motivated is being transparent… and not just with the good stuff. As an employee, there is nothing worse than feeling ‘out of the loop’ especially if the subject is going to impact you in some way. As difficult as it may seem, it’s vital to be transparent with your staff when trying to keep them motivated. Whilst it isn’t always possible, and of course staff don’t need to know every single detail, giving regular updates of key things happening within the business can really make staff feel valued.
- Set clear goals
A great way to motivate your team, is to set clear defined goals for every individual as well as an overall goal for the team. Setting goals encourages people to be accountable for their own work and progress as well as giving great personal satisfaction when a goal is achieved. It’s also important to feel like you have something to work towards. When setting these goals, it is important to make sure they are challenging and are going to put your employees slightly out of their comfort zone. Whilst this may seem like something that is going put stress onto staff, it will actually motivate them to work hard and will make them feel such a sense of achievement when they complete the task.
- Don’t micro manage
One of the biggest causes of de-motivation among staff, is being micro-managed. There is nothing worse than feeling like your boss doesn’t trust you to do your job to the best of your ability. Whilst it might be something you don’t realise your doing, its vital that you do not over manage staff and control everything they do. Believe that you have employed someone that is more than capable of doing what you hired them to do. If you want to keep track of what staff are doing then, as we have said in point 3, set goals and track them. That way if goals aren’t met, you can have a conversation about what went wrong and why. Doing it this way will make the staff feel like you value them and are actually invested in the work they are doing rather than making them feel untrusted.
- Don’t punish failure
In the big wide world of work, it is inevitable that there will be a time when you will fail. Regardless of how hard you work or how much of a perfectionist you are, there will always be a time in life where something doesn’t quite go to plan. That also applies to members of your team, which is why you shouldn’t punish failure. Instead, speak to the individual about what went wrong and why they think the project didn’t go so well. It may be something has been playing on their mind or they took on more than they probably should have, punishing them will result in the staff feeling really demotivated and generally undervalued, especially if they have performed well in other situations.
- Celebrate all successes
In the working world, the environment can be very fast paced, and it can be very easy to miss all the small little wins along the way. However, try to make a real effort to make a big deal out of all successes no matter how small they are. At the end of the day a success is a success and whilst it may seem like something small and trivial, it can have a real impact on the bigger picture. Celebrating all of the successes of your staff will make them feel really appreciated and will show them you are actually taking notice of the effort they are putting in. The celebration can be as small as a high five and a pat on the back, but really try to stop and take a minute to reflect on the hard work and effort that was put into that small win. In equal measures, you should also make sure you are celebrating the big wins as well, as they often come when things are moving at a very fast pace and going really well, and it can be really easy to overlook those wins and be distracted by the next big project in the pipeline. Again, take time to appreciate all the hard work and effort that has been put in as it will make such a huge difference to the people working for you.