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Making a plan that motivates your team.

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Making a plan that motivates your team. A good motivational plan is going to be important for the success of any type of team. There are some tips to making a good plan that is very motivating and successful in getting a team to work together to obtain goals.

So you have heard about what the other guy is doing. Will that work for your team. It might. However it is a good idea to create a plan to motivate your team that is specific to your teams needs and characteristics. Let me explain.

A team of young technical agents may become more motivated with rewards like movie tickets and paint gun passes for reaching specific goals. On the other hand a more sales based professional group may be more motivated with lunches at close by restaurants. This is where it takes some research and getting to know the team you want to motivate.

For example: There was an employee that worked at the same company for 6 years. The company was trying some new motivational options. This employee did a good job, reached the goals that were set for them. In addition had good attendance and performance reviews. Then one day this employee's manager came up and gave this employee a slinky.

Did I mention that this employee was 63 years old? So the employee chuckled and though it was a nice gesture, but it did nothing to motivate this employee. Then a few days later this employee received a candy bar for meeting the call volume goal for that day. This was odd the employee thought because she was a diabetic. The manager she had, has been her manager for several years, and really should have known this. Again the employee thought it was a nice gesture, however it did not motivate the employee.

So even though they were things to motivate, these treats were not going to do the job. On the other hand the same money could have been used to provide motivational choices that would have been better suited for that team member. A good idea could be small bottles of lotion, or healthy snacks. It is all about thinking of what will work. Motivational items should not be generic.

There is always a need for some monetary motivations. These are treats, trinkets, and rewards. However motivation goes much deeper than that. It is proven that people thrive and are more motivated when they feel they are accomplishing goals. This can be done simply with team meetings, goal setting, coaching and recognition of outstanding work on a regular basis.

If you ask an employee what motivates them there are several things they may answer. These answers may be something like this:

  • Money
  • Appreciation
  • Stability
  • Money
  • Achievement
  • A comfortable place to work
  • Money
  • Good insurance

They rarely say a slinky or candy bar. Now in some cases those would be fun ways of saying thanks for doing a good job. However, a pat on the back, and a verbal, "Great Job" is just as important.

If you want to build a successful team that is motivated to accomplish specific goals, the expectation of those goals need to be communicated up front. Then there will need to be reminders, tracking and even a little competition involved.

It has been proven that if there is someone watching and commenting on actions, people tend to work in a closer line of compliance. This is why a manager needs to be involved.

Imagine what this employee that was mentioned earlier would have felt like if their manager came up and said, "Great job on your calls today, I really appreciate the hard work you do for the team. Because of your hard work we as a team were able to reach our team goals. Here is a gift card to the little dinner in the lunchroom. It is not much, but it is my way of saying thank you."

If this was the response this employee got for their hard work, wouldn't it be logical that they did the action again. Of course as adults we know that this is not a normal thing to have happen on a daily basis. However, even a "Thank you" or "good job" will be just as valuable in the future.

So when you are deciding on what you want to put into your motivational plan, there needs to be a balance of verbal and physical motivational options. It takes a full balance of appreciation for motivation to be a success.

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