A motivated and happy team is a productive team. Do you feel like your team is becoming complacent? Have you inherited a team that seems listless and bored? Try a few of these tips and you may find yourself with a team ready to start knocking it out of the park.
- Give recognition habitually.
- Make goals clear.
- Schedule one-on-one time to coach.
- Make training a priority.
- Show enthusiasm.
- Give people more ownership.
- Ask them to help solve a problem.
- Be more informal.
- Celebrate milestones.
- Say ‘Thank You’ more.
- Tell people what they do right.
- Take them to lunch.
- Listen better and remember what you hear.
- Lead by supporting.
- Make sure the right people are doing the right things.
- Foster creativity.
- Set achievable goals.
- Lighten the mood.
- Take the team’s pulse periodically.
- Encourage ideas and consider them thoughtfully.
- Be consistent and spread praise across the entire team.
- Identify the team leaders and keep them positive.
- Tie organizational goals to personal goals.
- Incentivize based on the individual. Not everyone motivates the same way.
- Let people know what’s ahead. Avoid mysteries.
- Set career paths within your organization and promote from within whenever possible.
- Use job titles wisely. They can be powerful ego boosters.
- Get office equipment fixed/handled/replaced promptly.
- Make the work environment attractive and professional.
- Praise people on-the-spot and so everyone can hear.
- Give your people leadership roles to reward their performance.
- Take team photos and make them visible.
- Set team goals, not just individual goals.
- Get your people executive recognition as much as possible.
- Plan outside events. Baseball games, barbecues, comedy clubs, etc.
- Let people dress business casual or even wear jeans. You might save them hundreds of dollars in dry-cleaning.
- Implement contests that earn time off.
- Encourage (and pay for) outside professional seminars.
- Be as flexible as you can with breaks during the course of the day.
- Give gag awards (e.g. at one job I was proud to earn “The Golden Hammock” for going above and beyond.)
- Buy the team a pizza once a month.
- Once a month take the team into a conference room and watch an episode of “The Office.”
- Demonstrate integrity every day. Be trusted.
- Be flexible and gracious.
- Ask your team to bring potential solutions whenever they have problems.
- Whenever possible, make the team part of your decision-making process.
- Explain decisions.
- Ask your team to think big.
- Give people time off during the work day to learn more about their craft or their industry.
- Position your people as experts in the company.