Motivational Skills

.Its components and benefits

At the end of this session, you would be able to..

Mastering one of your toughest management challenges: linking an individuals values to your organizations goals How to see your employees the way they want to be seen Build "optimal experiences" into even the most mundane tasks Motivational strategies for specific situations Energizing self-directed teams Lighting a fire under apathetic workers and marginal performers Achieving your ultimate goal: maintaining productivity and morale over the long term Banishing De-motivators from Your Workplace

What is motivation?

In the most general of terms, motivation is the psychological feature that arouses an individual to action toward a desired goal. Motivation can also be the reason for an individuals action or that which gives purpose and direction to behavior. In other words, motivation is an incentive that generates goaldirected behavior.

Positive and negative Motivation

Sometimes a distinction is made between positive and negative motivation. Positive motivation is a response which includes enjoyment and optimism about the tasks that you are involved in. Negative motivation involves undertaking tasks because there will be undesirable outcomes, e.g.. failing a subject, if tasks are not completed.

What is 'loss of motivation'?

You might experience loss of motivation as a reluctance to undertake an assignment or project, or attend a lecture or tutorial. As a result of loss of motivation you may be thinking about withdrawing from a subject, or taking leave from office etc. You may experience loss of motivation as if it were a lost object or a lost friend. You might feel: anxious confused frustrated angry uncertain depressed

How can motivation be lost?

The most common reasons for loss of motivation are: a change accumulated changes a negative experience several negative experiences

Steps to Employee Motivation

Some steps that managers/Tls can take to better support their employees in motivating themselves. First, they need to write down what they think motivates each of their employees and ask the employee to do the same. They then compare results with the employee and discuss the differences and misperceptions. Next, the results are used to establish a reward system based on self-stated motivational factors. Finally, managers need to reward and acknowledge positive behaviors. Employees need to know when an organizational goal has been met as a result of their actions. They need to clearly understand their specific action or actions that led to the goal being met. Once this is done it is a time to celebrate. Celebration among the team of a job well done is the first step in accomplishing the next organizational goal.

Identify Group Needs

Experience Identifying experience is important for group confidence. Experience in particular areas can help the group identify with individuals and allow individuals to shine in their appropriate areas. Attributes Identify attributes are important as this can either help or hurt the group cohesion. Identifying whether potential members are aggressive, passive, compassionate, dedicated , or motivated can directly influence the speed and accuracy of the completion of team objectives. It is important to have a well rounded team so they can effectively challenge and complement one another. Specialty interest Indentify passions or non-passions. Identifying indivial passions or non-passions can help identify and individuals motivation. If a team member does not care about the outcome of the projcet, their motivation and contribution may be limited. On the other hand, someone with extreme passion may be overbearing and inhibit team success. Finding individuals with the appropriate interest levels must be balanced.

Skills The necessary skill level is important so highly skilled individuals arent bored with the project at hand. However it is important to have appropriately skilled individuals to be able to accomplish the task at hand. Personalities Are ideas going to be challenged? This question is important. If you have a group of individuals that behave in the same manner, will the ideas presented in the group environment be challenged sufficiently to be identified as the best possible solution or end product? Allowing individuals to be challenged, or defend particular point of views can allow healthy collaboration. However with personalities that are overbearing and dominearing it can lead to a very unsafe group environment. This can lead to other problems like group polarization

Identify goal or team purpose

Goal Defining a clear goal is important so the group understands what it is trying to achieve. Without a clear goal or purpose, the team may not be able to identify when the task is complete or finished. As well, with a clear goal set, the team can unify and focus on the objectives rather than determining what the objectives will be. Timeline It is important to establish a timeline of group selection as well as project finish date. (In the timeline, the project finish date may be defined as ongoing or indeffinate.) While selecting the best members of a group, it is important to follow a timeline of when the group must be formed.

Other motivational factors

Identify Possible Team Members Team Relationships :
The qualities of relationships that are the best for teams to be effective include being productive, having mutual understanding and are self corrective. These things need to be evaluated in who is picked for a team.

Productivity Mutual understanding Self corrective Team player

Drawbacks of unmotivated team

Teams that lack motivation will rarely reach their full potential or perform at to the best of their ability. In most cases, it is not the entire team that lacks motivation, but individuals on the team that lack motivation. Lack of motivation effects team performance in four different areas: task, structure, goals, and members.

Task Meaningful, motivating tasks are needed to reach higher levels of motivation is teams. When team members are not motivated, the task suffers. The way in which the task gets performed can determine the success or failure of the team. If some team members are more motivated than others, an unfair division of labor can occur. Some team members will most likely end up doing more work than others. When this happens, the team can also become divided and operate less cohesively.

Structure When the teams structure is understood by all team members, individuals are better able to operate in their own roles. Each team member understands their roles and responsibilities, which can be motivating. When the structure of a team is not understood, or when a leader is not defined, there can be a clear lack of motivation. Appointing a leader that understands how to motivate individuals on the team can lead to team success.

Goals When asked about why a team was successful, most people will say that a clear focus, purpose, or goal was crucial to the success of the team. When working in teams, there is often a division between team goals and individual goals. Challenges occur when individuals goals dont line up with those of the team. Often, the discrepancy in team and individual goals is a leading cause of lack of motivation in teams. This lack of motivation can lead to interpersonal conflict within a team and/or conflicts of interest. Determining clear and focused goals early on will help prevent lack of motivation in the future. Members In order for a team to be motivated, each individual on the team must be motivated. Team members are dependant on the structure of the team to help determine their individual roles and responsibilities within the team. Without clear direction, often times, team members lack motivation. When individuals are not motivated, the team is not motivated. In many cases, individual competencies and knowledge is vital to success. When team members are unsure of their individual roles and responsibilities, often times, knowledge will not surface that otherwise would have.