Motivation Article
Ten Techniques for
Motivating Others Through Chaos
By Ed Sykes
Motivation in the
work environment has changed. Change has become the norm. Also the
motivation level
of employees has changed. This can lead to increased dissatisfaction and
decreased productivity.
Here
are ten techniques for motivating your employees to succeed during chaos:
1.
Take Care of the Little Things to Motivate Others
Doing
the little things well will show that you respect your employees. Making sure
you are on time for meetings, saying “good morning” and “thank-you,” and
returning phone calls and e-mails in a timely manner goes a long way to showing
your employees that you care during chaotic times.
2.
Be an Active
Listener to Motivate Others
Recent research stated that
the average supervisor or manager only invests two hours per year applying “pure
listening” skills. Pure listening is when you are listening to your employee
you are not:
§
Multitasking
§
Ordering your
lunch
§
Watching people
walk by your office.
§
Answering
telephone calls
§
Setting up
appointments
To be a pure listener you
must be an active listener. Good managers do more than pay attention. They
genuinely care about people and never talk down to them. They ask their
employees about their goals and dreams, their past achievement, their concerns
and challenges during this chaotic time. They listen with their hearts and
minds. They respect the employee’s thoughts and opinions. They realize that
the employees sometimes have the best answer for achieving more through chaos.
3.
Walk Your Talk
to Motivate Others
If you expect your employees
to arrive early, then you arrive early. If you expect your employees to keep
their promises, you keep your promises. If you want your employees to keep to
high standards, you keep to high standards.
Your employees are watching
you even when you don’t think they are watching you. So set the tone. Once you
walk through the doors of your organization make sure you are positive and
upbeat if you expect your employees to be positive and upbeat.
4.
Let People Know
They Make a Difference to Motivate Others
At the top of many lists of
what motivates employees, more than money, is knowing that they make a
difference at work. One of the most powerful methods of letting your employees
know they make is difference is…praise (Go to article
Appreciate to Motivate to learn how). The praise should relate to how
the employee helps achieve the overall mission of the organization.
5.
Communicate Clearly
to Motivate Others
Communicate so that others understand what you want to achieve. Adapt your
communication to the audience you are speaking. Constantly communicate your
vision and goals so that there are no misunderstandings. The clearer the
vision, the clearer the communication, the clearer the opportunity for success.
6.
Help Employees Succeed
to Motivate Others
People
go to work to succeed, not fail. It is your job to understand your employee’s
strengths and weaknesses so that you can put them in the best position to
succeed. If, for example, you find out that an employee is lacking in a certain
skill set to succeed during a change then provide the coaching and training to
make them and your organization successful. The best managers minimize or
eliminate their employees weaknesses and while building on their strengths.
Remove any and all barriers to success.
7.
Focus Your Team on the Goal
to Motivate Others
Focus
your employees on the end result, the overall team goal. Once you successful
communicate this your team will band together to defeat any obstacles that get
in the way.
8.
Create High Standards
to Motivate Others
High-performance organizations set high standards for their people. Employees
want to know what is expected of them, how their performance is measured, and
what rewards they can expect when they exceed the standard. Make sure the
standards are consistently applied to each employee. Make sure each employee
understands how the standards are measured so that they know how to reach it.
As each plateau is reached, set new goals.
9.
Help Your Employees Compete and Win
to Motivate Others
Develop goals that help all your employees excel. Make your goals inclusive not
exclusive. This means that everybody is working together and wins together.
Have your employees complete against the goal, not each other.
10.
Reward Outstanding Achievement
to Motivate Others
Find
ways to recognize your achievers in a public way. The more you reward employees
for excellent achievement, the more you receive more of the same behavior. Make
sure you are consistent with the way you contribute rewards to your employees.
Very important, make use you communicate exactly why the employee is being
rewarded. And last, reward as soon as possible to the action.
Some
of the ways you can show recognition are:
§
Idea board
§
Initiative
Board
§
Star Spotlight
§
Certificates
§
Gift cards
§
Say thank-you
§
Lunch
Apply these motivation techniques and you will motivate
others to achieve your goals
during the most challenging of times.
Suggested reading:
Are You Singing Your
Song of Success? Five Secrets to Following Your Dreams and Achieving More
Success in Your Life
Leadership Starts with Tough
Decisions: Five Leadership Skills for Outstanding Team Building
JumpStart Your Employee
Motivation: Ten Motivation Secrets to Empower Your Team
Appreciate to Motivate
(The Key to Successful Team Building)
The Secret to Living Your Dreams: Five Success Techniques to Achieving More Success in Your Life!
Seven Change Management Secrets to Creating a Winning Culture of Change
Are You Building Your Foundation of Success: Six Secrets of Motivating Yourself for Success
Employee
Motivation, Don Imus, and Team Building: Five Secrets of Motivated Teams
Motivate Your
Customer Service Team for Outstanding Customer Service: Six Secrets of Customer Service Motivation
Life Before Downsizing: Six Secrets to Managing Change and
Creating Opportunities for the Future
Success Starts with a Can Do Attitude: Three Secrets to
Creating More Success
Coaching: How to Succeed in Half the Time Using a Personal Coach
Leadership Techniques for Anyone: How Kermit Shared
Five Leadership Secrets with the World
Eight Leadership Techniques for
Outstanding Teams
Motivate Your Team! Eight Quick Tips to Motivate for
Success
Adversity: Your Seed of
Greatness (Three Secrets to Using
Adversity to Become Great)
Connect the Dots! Your Roadmap for Success
Every Super Hero Needs Theme Music. What’s Yours?
Seven Secrets to
Being the Leader Everyone Wants to Follow
Have You Appreciated Someone Today?
Nine Ways Johnny Carson Can
Help You Run Outstanding Meetings
Five Secrets to
Gaining Credibility with Your Team for Outstanding
Results
How Appetizing Is
Your Feedback? (5 Steps to Giving Effective Feedback)
10
Action Steps to Motivate Yourself to Great Accomplishments
Eight Ways to Motivate
Part-Time Employees
Delegate to Accelerate Success
(How to Prepare
Yourself and Others for Success)
The
Greatest Gift of All - The Gift of Empowerment
Leadership Secrets for Challenging Times
Goal Setting Secrets to Jumpstart Your Life
Want to learn how to be the motivator who motive others to
more success and achieve more? Our
Team Building,
Leadership,
Change Management, or
Assertive Communication workshops can help you
motivate others to achieve more.
Also read our
articles on motivation skills, etc. Call us at 757-427-7032 or e-mail us
at
info@thesykesgrp.com.
Ed Sykes is a
professional speaker published in the areas of leadership, change management,
customer service, motivation, and teamwork. He works with business and government
organizations who want to reach the next level of success and individuals who
want to perform at their best. You can email him at esykes@thesykesgrp.com,
call him at (757) 427-7032 or visit his Web site at
www.thesykesgrp.com.
