Are you part of a team that seems to be lacking in passion? Here are some simple ways to motivate each of your teammates into action.
How do you maintain the spirit of enthusiasm in your organization? It takes a bit of creativity and persistence on any leader’s part to keep his team motivated. But the simple solution actually lies in setting an encouraging and empowering team culture. Here’s how you’re going to do so in five simple ways.
Share the vision collectively and creatively
Staff meetings are a great way to share your organization’s vision to a group of people. Be more creative in planning these events. Instead of boring meetings, why not integrate team building activities and brunches into your monthly meet-ups? These meetings are essential in keeping everyone’s eyes on a worthwhile goal. Plus, the atmosphere that you set during these meetings (high energy, fun, creative, etc.) will also be pivotal in pumping up everyone’s enthusiasm and making them look forward to the next company meeting.
Share the vision with each team member
Group meetings are important. But talking to each of your team members individually gives team members an added push. As you share the organizational goal to each team member, take the opportunity to tell them where their skills and capabilities fit into the whole picture. This sends the message that each of them is valuable to the team.
Encourage new ideas
Before shutting down any one’s ideas as too outrageous, too simple, or just plain impossible, hear them out. If an idea is undoable, communicate clearly why this is so. At the same time, look for the best points in the idea that was presented to you. Maybe there’s a way to rehash the idea into a doable plan? Or maybe it can be kept in the “parking lot” for later use. Also, resist the urge to spoonfeed answers to problems. Allow your team members to brainstorm and find solutions on their own. This way, you can give them credit when their solutions work.
Acknowledge and appreciate
Be generous in giving praise, and acknowledge the people who have done good work. Sometimes, a simple thank you will do to make people feel appreciated. Sincere gratitude is an added motivation to anyone who’s part of a team.
Challenge your team members
Sometimes, team members feel demotivated because tasks have become routine and don’t even require them to exercise their capabilities. You can assign group projects to build the team spirit, but you can also give each one an opportunity to lead. Challenging yet reachable tasks are opportunities that help team members learn new skills and give them a sense of accomplishment. This strategy will also help you determine who your next leaders will be.
If you want to lead your team to success, deliberately and intentionally maintain an encouraging and empowering team culture. It will take commitment and patience on your part, but the trade-off is worth it when you see your organization slowly but surely reaching its goals.