Motivate your employees!
A manager, if you were to condense his job down to one phrase, must get results. To do this he needs to convince his team to take action—and for the team to be convinced, it needs motivation.
Modern, implementable psychology gives us simple and effective motivational techniques which will help you to get everyone moving. Here are the tools.
Find a reason.
The word “motivation” comes from the Latin “motivum”, meaning “cause”. So if you can find an adequate motive, you’ll be motivated. The following questions will help you with this: Why do you want to achieve this? Why is it worth doing? Why do we have to deal with this?
Make a commitment.
Research shows that telling your relatives and close ones about your goal will increase your chances of achieving it. Who, then, will you tell that you’re going to achieve your goal? At a team meeting every employee can tell others about their plans, and inviting a superior will give them an extra impulse.
Remove distractions.
Applying Pareto’s Law to motivation, 20% of your activities take up 80% of your time. Make a list of time eaters. What activities are you wasting most of your energy on? Then implement alternative actions to replace them. Instead of unproductive internet time take care of all the tasks from your list. Don’t put it off for later. Do it now.
You can do it.
The belief that you are capable gives you a feeling of confidence which is essential to undertaking any sort of action. In order to convince yourself that you’ll do fine, find at least three reasons which prove that you can achieve what you set out to do.
Eliminate self-sabotage.
9 of the biggest demotivators are: fear, choosing the wrong goals, a conflict of values, dependence on others, lack of challenge, regret, loneliness, burnout, uncertainty about the future. Work through them using effective coaching tools (e.g. rational behavioral therapy) and you’ll stop wasting your energy.
Find a goal.
You’re always motivated to do something, even to be lazy. Think in the categories of a goal—your desires and systematically ask yourself: What is my goal? What do I want to achieve? How does this action bring me closer to my goal? Wherever your concentration goes, so follows your energy.
Motivate others.
According to research done by the consulting company, Mercers, across 17 countries with 30,000 workers, the top motivation killers are: a lack of respect for employees, drawing attention to obvious problems, and “false democracy” (asking for an opinion when a decision has already been made). Out of 13 possible motivational factors money ended up in sixth place! So invest your time in developing your motivational skills and help others achieve their goals.
Stimulate your brain.
Imagine what you want to achieve, talk to yourself loudly in an inspirational tone, and take the physical actions associated with your goal (e.g. if you want to motivate yourself speak in public then stand up and speak as if an audience was present), turn on some motivational music, and feel the achievement of your desire as powerfully as you can. Your brain will be more stimulated and will achieve effects faster.
Use organizers.
A simple organizer with a calendar and a list of tasks is a universal attribute of effective people. Plan your next day every evening. Make sure to finish your list so you don’t become a workaholic. Research shows that it’s easier to achieve goals which are written down while checking off completed tasks gives us a feeling of accomplishment, competence and brings us closer to our desired goal.
