Are you looking for some team motivation ideas to energize your employees? Motivation is the ‘will’ to perform a task. When it comes to the workplace, a highly motivated team can outperform an unmotivated team. So, as a leader, you should motivate your staff to direct them towards your business goals.
In this article, you can see 10 team motivation ideas to energize your employees.
10 Team Motivation Ideas to Energize Your Employees
Every employee is different, so the drivers of motivation vary from person to person. Some people argue that extrinsic motivation is the best, whereas others claim intrinsic motivation is the best. In reality, you should try both of them to motivate your team of employees. In addition to that, knowing how and when to use them is also important.
Below are some team motivation ideas that will help you energize your employees.
#1. Be Ready to Set Employee-Friendly Policies
Your company policies have a huge impact on the overall job happiness of your employees. If your policies are too strict, then they can have a negative feeling about your company. However, if they are liberal, employees would be happy with their jobs. For this reason, be ready to set employee-friendly policies in your company.
These policies should be geared towards the overall well-being of workers and should give them enough freedom in their workplace. Thus, setting employee-friendly policies can be treated as a long-term motivational strategy.
#2. Concern for a Total Person, Including His Family
You might have heard about Theory Z developed by William Ouchi. Theory Z is the name given to the Japanese Management style, which was popularized in the 1980s. One of the characteristics of this theory is that it inspires the management to care for a total person, including his family.
As a leader, you can apply this in the following ways:
- Health insurance coverage for employees and their families
- Better work-life balance by allowing flexible working hours, off days, work-from-home opportunities, etc.
- Paid vacation
These offers will make your teams feel you care for them. Eventually, they will be able to contribute more to your company.
#3. Delegation of Authority and Responsibilities
This is one of the popular team motivation ideas. Delegation of authority is entrusting someone with tasks and giving him full responsibility. Remember that employees don’t like micro-management. That’s why you need to delegate authority and responsibility to your teams fully.
So, how delegation will motivate your teams? When you give full control of a task to your teams, they will have more freedom. So, they can set their own work procedures and complete the tasks in their own style. When employees get some authority, they will be motivated and able to perform better.
#4. Involve Your Teams in Decision Making
One of the best ideas to motivate your team is to include them in the decision-making process. When employees get involved in decision making, they can have a feeling of belonging. Moreover, this can increase their job satisfaction. Therefore, they will become more productive and bring more success to your business.
There are different ways to include your teams in the decision-making process. Some of them are participating your team members in board meetings, providing ownership rights, etc.
You can read this article for more ideas on how to involve employees in decision making.
#5. Maintain Transparency and Trust
People don’t want to work with a boss who is not transparent. As a leader, you should maintain transparency with your words and deeds. A proper system for open communication and regular feedback will help you achieve this. Be clear with your terms, share your vision with your teams, and keep promises.
Transparency builds trust, and teams will be motivated when they are trusted by their employers. So, show your staff that you trust them, and they will trust you too. When employees like their boss, they don’t even think about finding another job.
#6. Make the Job Enjoyable
According to Fredrick Hertzberg’s two-factor theory, the main motivational factor for a worker is the job itself. People who love their jobs are highly committed to the goals and ready to work till late hours to achieve them. As a leader, you should make sure that your employees love what they do.
Remember, a happy employee is a productive employee. Here are some ways that can make your employees enjoy their jobs:
- A pleasant work environment: Make sure that you have a pleasant work environment that meets all the basic needs of your staff.
- Promote teamwork: When team members collaborate with their colleagues, they will be more engaged and motivated.
- Encourage good relationships: You should encourage your team members to build good relationships with their colleagues as well as the management.
- Celebrate milestones: Make sure you celebrate the personal milestones of team members as well as the work milestones of a team as a whole. These milestones can be anything like the birthday of a team member, completion of a challenging project, etc.
#7. Provide Growth Opportunities
Your team of employees wants to improve their knowledge and skills. If they don’t get enough opportunities to learn and grow, they probably look for another job. As a leader, you don’t want this to happen.
So, make sure that you provide proper training and development opportunities for your teams. Not only will this help them competent at what they do, but this will also keep them motivated.
#8. Reward Great Performances
Many companies don’t provide any rewards to their employees even if they perform well. This will lead to job dissatisfaction and finally, result in high turnover. So, you shouldn’t make this mistake. Rewarding great performances is one of the best ideas to motivate your team.
When your team of employees produces great results, you should reward them with money, praise, and promotion. This will motivate them and they will more likely to increase their performance level.
#9. Set Clear, but Challenging Goals
According to Abraham Maslow’s needs hierarchy theory, people have five strong needs. Also, their behavior at each moment is based on their strongest need.
These five needs are:
- Physiological needs
- Security needs
- Social needs
- Esteem needs
- Self-actualized needs
When the first four needs are met, the self-actualization needs become the strongest motivator for employees. In this stage, employees might want to take on some challenges that require their creativity. Moreover, they will be looking for career advancement opportunities.
As a leader, you can take advantage of this scenario. So, you need to set clear, but challenging goals for your teams. When employees achieve something beyond their normal capabilities, they can have a feeling of accomplishment. Remember, setting an easy goal is not going to motivate your staff. However, when it is a bit difficult but possible, your teams will be motivated to give their best performance.
#10. Show Support, Never Blame in Failures
A great leader should know how to support his men in failures. Remember, mistakes are common among humans. Sometimes, your teams may make mistakes or fail. In such situations, you should not blame them.
You should help them understand the causes of their failure and show your support by suggesting proper measures to get better next time. This will boost their confidence and they will be motivated to perform better.
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Final Words
Motivating your teams is crucial for your company’s success. As a business leader, you should know what motivates your employees regardless of the type of your business or company structure. Also, it’s important to know how and when to motivate them. Hopefully, the above team motivation ideas will help you motivate your teams and direct them towards achieving your business goals.