Top 6 Tips How to Motivate Your Team

Motivating your team is the key to success for any business. There's an old adage that "no man is an island" and this is also true in business. No manager, team leader, or business can operate successfully without strong connections and cooperation from those around them.

If you have to manage a team of co-workers it is not enough just to be self-motivated and hope that rubs off on others. Great results come from having a spirit of enthusiasm and desire 'to get things done' among staff.

Here are 6 effective ways that you can motivate your team and push your business to more success.

1. Communication

Effective communication is the lifeblood of any successful team and it's one of the best ways to motivate and involve your team. We all know what can happen to the body if there is a problem with blood circulation in the body. It can result in parts of the body becoming infected and eventually dying off.

A team member who is well-informed is a motivated team member and they will a much more positive attitude than one who doesn't know what is going on.

It's important to make sure that your team knows the direction the company is taking, what its goals are, and what is expected of everyone. They also need to feel free to communicate with you. That way you can also learn about their ideas and concerns.

2. Encourage Innovation

When your team communicates well, you open up fantastic new opportunities for innovation. Team members will be highly motivated if they know that ideas they can freely express any new ideas they have. This helps to make them feel part of the company's success.

Arrange times for regular team meetings where you can brainstorm new ideas and discuss. How does this motivate your team? A team that is involved in a brainstorming session will be more effective than the sum of their parts. The will feed off each other and come up with completely new ideas that you have never thought of.

3. Set Realistic Goals

How important are goals? Think of 2 teams of 11 players on a field with a ball. The teams are only motivated when there are goals at either end of the pitch. Without a proper goal, it is difficult to find direction and motivation.

When it comes to setting goals, the keyword is realistic. It is fine to have goals but they can't be too difficult that there are impossible to reach, and they can't be too each to obtain. Neither will motivate your team.

So, break larger goals into smaller achievable goals and always have a time limit on achieving the goals.

4. Create Healthy Competition

Creating a healthy spirit of competition can help to motivate your team. Steel magnate, Charles M. Schwab built his business by encouraging healthy competition. He is quoted as saying: "The way to get things done is to stimulate competition."

By introducing a reward system you can do much to encourage your team to work for success. There are many ways that you can encourage healthy competition.

For example, even just the chance of a free lunch for two can help to motive your team members to work harder. Or, you could break your team into smaller groups and have each group work on a specific aspect of a long-term goal.

It's important to make sure that team members don't start competing against each other to the detriment of the whole team. Make sure that the whole team gets rewarded when long-term goals are met.

5. Appreciate Each Individual

Although teamwork is important, everyone needs to feel that their individual efforts are appreciated, and that can often be better than a bonus. So, take the time to show your appreciation to each team member with specific commendation on his / her work.

6. Provide Support

Providing proper support to help your team complete tasks and get the job done is a powerful motivator your team. One of the most demoralising feelings a team member can have is to be assigned a task without having the proper tools or training to complete.

However, it is important to remember not to micro-manage your team, but give them the flexibility to work out how to finish the task in hand. Peter Economy from Inc.com says that in one survey, 38% of employee would rather take on an unpleasant task than have a micromanaging boss.

We've found that another effective way to motive your team is by arranging for a well-known keynote speaker to speak at your corporate event. Speakers who are authorities in their field bring with them expert knowledge and experience which can boost your team's morale.