Team Motivation

It is important to have all the team members motivated. Motivation is a state of mind. A motivated individual will feel happy and excited about things and work. But motivation may not come instantly and naturally to people. As a manager, it will be important to understand what will motivate the team members and do the needed things. If you are interested in exploring motivation in-depth, we encourage you to check out our tutorial on motivation theories, this will provide insights into the way people behave and what motivates them.  

Motivation is a psychological phenomenon. It is important to understand what will motivate an individual, what will dissatisfy an individual, and the role of leadership in motivating individuals. Many leading management experts and psychologists have studied human behavior and have formalized their findings as various motivation theories. All such theories can be effectively used for team motivation.

It is first important to understand the nature and behavior of the team members. Whether they are self-directed individuals or they need a lot of guidance for doing their job (McGregor’s Theory X and Y). Accordingly, the manager/leader will have to act in motivating them.  Then it will be imperative to understand what exactly will motivate an individual. Each individual may have different needs and fulfilling those needs will motivate them. Maslow’s theory and McClelland’s theory should be used to identify specific needs of an individual and accordingly address them. Someone may be looking for a basic pay raise, while someone else may be looking for a challenging responsibility, someone else may be looking for recognition and being part of a powerful group.

Everything will not act as a motivator. There may be many factors that can be termed hygiene factors and a few are termed motivating factors according to Hertzberg’s Motivation Theory. It will be important to ensure the presence of hygiene factors as they ensure the satisfaction of individuals. On top of them, we need to provide motivating factors such as challenging responsibilities and respect and recognition.

Conclusion

Motivated team members are essential for achieving greater results. Motivation is a psychological phenomenon. It is important to understand the needs of individuals and accordingly work towards motivating them. Various motivation theories are handy in understanding how people behave and how they can be motivated. There are many more motivation theories that can be used effectively for achieving team motivation.