Quite often clients come to their coaching session with the topic of “How can I motivate my team members?” Going deeper into the topic clients then quite regularly discover that they do not know what motivates individuals in their teams. Sometimes, they come to admit that they don’t know what they themselves are motivated by.
Now, this is not a Gold-Nugget on Motivation – I will write about this in the future, but here I want to cover just how essential it is to know your team members. What drives them, what interests them both at work and outside, what their family situation is, what they think they are good at. Finding out what their needs are will go a long way to nailing down what motivates them.
Take some time to meet with them individually and ask them questions like
- What do you think you are good at? What is your skillset – technical and soft skills?
- What is important for you – at work and outside of work?
- How do you like to spend your free time?
Depending on the size of your team it can be hard to remember everything you learn – so why not create an overview, so you have notes to glance at before you assign people to projects or delegate tasks. The following matrix is a suggestion for how you can capture what you learn.
Marcus Buckingham, the Author of “Love and Work” has a simple formula for leaders: Each week on a Friday, connect with each of your team members and ask the following simple questions:
- What was great this past week?
- What did you hate this past week?
- What are your priorities for next week?
- How can I support you?
Often, motivation simply comes down to showing interest in an individual as a person and removing barriers that keep them from doing their best work.
Which of these concepts speaks to you?
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If you find this inspiring and you would like to explore further how we could work together, I am delighted to meet with you for a 30-minute-free-of-charge-info-session