 How to motivate a team. In this video I go through 10 practical actions that you can take that will definitely increase your team's motivation and Make your job as a manager easier My name is Jess Coles and I've led and managed teams over 25 years in corporates and household names through to SMEs I've had to motivate teams through periods of high growth through to turning around a failing business And I've also won best team prizes at national magazine and company level If you're new to this channel enhanced dot training provides online business courses to help professionals Managers and business owners improve their performance And if you like this video, please give it a thumbs up subscribe and share it with friends So let's start with the first practical action that you can take As a manager setting goals for the team to work towards is a must If you don't then each member of the team will work in the direction that they think is best Chances are you'll have everyone going in all directions and achieving much when this is happening is really quite hard So set a goal or group of goals to give everyone a focus to aim at Each person can then prioritise their activities and projects to best support and meet the team goals The team will then move in a similar direction, which will result in a lot more being achieved and the right things being achieved Work to clearly define the team goals and direction and then make sure the team understands the goals It will try to reach ask them to explain the goals to you and how they and you will know when these goals are reached And even better approach is to get the team to help you define the goals and milestones along the way This does take a little longer than you define the goals The benefits you get is a team that owns the goals alongside you rather than having your goals imposed upon them And you may end up with better goals and a better plan to achieve these goals Once you have your goals in place you can set expectations for each team member Personal goals or objectives for each person and a plan of how to get there are both really important in setting expectations Taking both steps makes it a lot easier to hold individuals to account if performance becomes a problem Creating plans can be a massive help for the individual to achieve the goals Judge what is needed for each person And if each team member meets their own goals, the team should definitely reach the team goals This is in your interests as a manager and providing help when needed makes it a lot of sense and it also shows you care So remember provide clear directions by setting goals and then help plan out how you're going to get to these goals These steps make expectations clear for everyone Clarity and responsibility are both motivational factors Consistency is important for motivating teams No one enjoys being treated worse than other team members or unfairly Over time an inconsistent approach undermines the team's respect for you Creating problems within the team and it makes your job as a manager a lot harder It is much better to establish principles and then apply those principles consistently Let me just imagine a conversation without any consistency or principles going something like this team member You allowed David to submit his report two days late last week and Gemma to submit her report a day late Why can't I send my report in a day late? manager responds Because I'm asking you to submit it on time This response is inconsistent and gives the team member plenty of arguments to push making your job harder Even if you convince them, they're probably going to feel unfairly treated which stills up problems for the future Let's compare to a more principled approach which might go something like this Team member. I would like to submit my report a day late as I'm really busy. Is that okay? The manager responds. We all agreed as a team that one of our highest priorities was to submit our reports on time each week Do you remember being at that meeting? team member. Yes Manager, so you need to submit your report on time just like everyone else team member Okay, I will The manager is upholding the principles agreed by the team The team member has peer pressure and the manager's request to contend with and doesn't really have an argument to push They're also being treated just the same as everyone else Agreeing the principles and then sticking to them allows you as a manager to be fair and consistent And we all know you won't have a principle for everything. Apply the 80-20 rule and cover the important areas This will make yours and the team's life a lot easier And everyone will be happier and a lot more motivated because of it I've found time and time again that being open and honest and sharing as much information and sensible with the team My managing helps everyone Give the team members the reasons why certain decisions actions or projects are happening Encourage them to ask questions and provide honest answers When team members understand why certain decisions have been made or project started or goals set then they can adapt You know what they're doing the decisions they're making and their projects that they're working on to support the projects and the Activities thus making it easier for the team or company to reach their goals Team members are also much more likely to accept decisions if they understand why it is happening even if they don't agree with it Probably even more important is that being open and honest also extends your trust to the team or demonstrates your trust of the team Let me ask you a question How many people do you trust who don't trust you? Imagine it's a pretty small number or maybe a zero The same goes for your team if you don't trust them you are not making it easy for them to trust you Team members are much more likely to be motivated Working for a manager they like and trust rather than someone they don't trust Being open and honest creates a much better team culture and they're much more motivated because of it If the manager of the team and the team members are supportive of one another and help each other The easier and the nicer it is to work in that particular team The manager or leader of the team sets the rules and plays a big part in creating the team culture The more supportive the manager and the colleagues are the happier and the more motivated team members are likely to be I would hope that most of us have experienced a positive and supportive team environment I was certainly a lot more motivated to deliver my work and achieve the team goals in this type of environment There are lots of ways to help team members and show and be supportive Some of these include show empathy to team members when they encounter problems Be flexible with things like holidays time off adopters and similar wearing all possible I've always found team members appreciate this flexibility and pay you back and then some Roll up your sleeves and help them solve the problems they have There are lots of ways of doing this from telling them the answer through to coaching them to the answer The team members will develop better problem-solving skills with a coaching approach Just bear in mind coaching is not right for all situations Another option might be to make sure you have the right resources available to the team You know don't allow the work of ten to be undertaken by eight for too long And lastly teach mentor and coach where possible as part of developing team members I've always found that being supportive and helpful Makes it much easier to be successful as a manager and allows the team to deliver more as the team members are much more motivated to deliver There are so many reasons why as a manager you want to develop your team members skills and experience Here are just a few if firstly a strong team will achieve more you'll deliver better results or complete more projects, etc Yeah, secondly greater skills in the team allow the team to do more you know in terms of different projects different tasks different activities Third a better team means you can do more value add tasks as the manager and Fourth an improving team reflects well on the manager or leader Third five development is a really strong retention tool for many staff members And lastly, it's really motivational to work for a manager who's looking to improve your skills There are so many ways to develop team members a few ideas include you know Have weekly one-to-one meetings in which you coach and mentor the individuals and this is all my personal favorites You could create informal training programs You know you or another team member could pass their knowledge on or skills on to the less skilled members of the team By our lunchtime training sessions for example You could set up a buddy system where a more experienced person teaches a less experienced person Or you could have formal training. You know classroom or online courses to teach knowledge and skills You could have coaching sessions. You know, this is personalized coaching for team members by a third party And maybe lastly you could ask team members to read books or watch YouTube videos on specific subjects Take the time to put in place different ways to develop your individual team members skills and knowledge They will firstly thank you for it. There'll be a lot more motivated They'll do better work and they'll stay longer in your team or the overall company Development creates a win-win-win situation for you them and the company. Why wouldn't you invest the time? Every team has many demands on it from within the business and externally from customers suppliers or other stakeholders One of the important jobs as a manager of a team is to manage stakeholder expectations To protect the team from the ups and downs of demands asked of it and to challenge unreasonable demands If the team were to respond to each demand Asked of it when it was asked the team would probably be pulled from pillar to post The team would keep changing direction too often and not accomplish much in terms of the results or maybe not even deliver at all Managing expectations of stakeholders external to the team is an important step to giving the team a realistic chance Delivering on the projects and activities being asked of it and The manager or leader of the team must take the lion's share of this task Keep thinking about and planning out the team's workload and direction Keep the workload manageable by managing expectations and saying no when required Keep the team focused on the key goals They need to achieve and of course you will need to be flexible to accommodate urgent and important tasks that do come out of the woodwork Do this without the team losing their general direction and the focus on the key goals of the team If the team are overworked or pulling in all directions, the team motivation will drop If you're able to effectively protect the team from these issues while delivering for your key stakeholders The team will be a lot more motivated as they'll know that you had their back Learning to say no takes confidence and judgment For some requests you cannot say no because doing so would harm the team or the company Other requests you should say no to because they're unimportant or not urgent compared to the team's current workload Saying no is easier when you are confident about why you are saying no and about how you say no In my experience, you're really saying no. You know, I'm just not going to do that It's much more common that you're going to say no, I can't deliver that particular task by this particular time Are you delaying the delivery of the task? You know, for example We're not able to deliver this project for next Friday because we have two other projects that are higher priorities We should be able to deliver this for you the following Friday, you know Just over two weeks time with that work for you is an example of saying no Saying no can also be about asking clarifying questions For example, you know, when do you really need this for? What is dependent on this being delivered for next Tuesday? What is the minimum you need delivered for next week and so on? By asking questions you find out more about the request and its importance and its urgency This often means you can prioritize better and often delay delivering against these types of requests Learning to say no nicely is a critical skill for all workers to develop and especially so for anyone managing or leading a team It is a motivating fact for a team to have a manager or leader that can say no at the appropriate times and in the right way to ensure the team is not pulled off course or overworked Everyone likes to be told they have done a good job Positive reinforcement works so much better than criticizing what has not gone well In fact, studies have shown that to keep a colleague or team member happy you need to compliment them at least three times as much as being critical Three times How many managers achieve this? I'd imagine a fairly small number So make sure when you celebrate success, you are specific and not general with your comments This makes them so much more valuable and appreciated by the receiving party Look out for opportunities to praise team members for the work well done or for demonstrating great behavior There are lots of ways of celebrating success Some examples include, you know, sending an email praising the work or you could be when you're chatting by the water cooler, take the time to compliment them or it could be in your one-to-one meetings, you can praise the work they've done or it could be in public in front of other team members and praising the work they've done or it might be for instance in a public and a full team meeting and you're giving out prizes for great work or behavior Use different ways to celebrate success The more you do this, the more the team will feel appreciated and motivated to do more Compliment at least three times as much as being critical and be specific with your compliments We are all human and we experience the full range of emotions, the positive and the negative To motivate a team and to keep them motivated, as a manager, controlling your negative emotions is important You know, when you are angry or disappointed, frustrated, annoyed, fearfully even or fed up You want to be careful about how you display these emotions Research on emotional management suggests that the leader's ability to manage his or her emotions will determine the team's morale and their motivation Emotional management doesn't mean that you suppress these negative emotions Suppression will likely harm your team members motivation as they will register your lack of authenticity What you should do is reappraise and reframe your negative emotions And this will have a much more positive impact on the team And for example, say there's a decision that's made that impacts your team With the decision being made, you're angry and the chances are your team is too Acknowledging your anger with the team creates empathy And then discussing why the decision will help the company, although not your team Would help the other team members understand why the decision has been made and the wider benefits involved To reframe your emotions turn the problem into a challenge rather than a threat Which helps you concentrate on the task at hand and to plan out the steps to success Don't suppress your emotions, reappraise or reframe your emotions to help the team stay motivated This will help you and the team manage negative emotions in a much more positive and constructive way When considering how to motivate a team promoting from within wherever possible sends a really positive message to the team Giving current employees the opportunity to progress their career without Having to leave the company and go through the hassle of finding and winning a new job is a really positive message This creates a very positive ripple effect through the team and the business Combine promoting from within with your development programs and you have a very powerful retention incentive for all employees Recognize potential and talent develop it and then promote where possible Promoting from within creates a lot of benefits of the company the team and of course the individual You know some examples would be you're less disruption and training time You've got less cost there's less risk as you know the person and their work There's less staff turnover and you have a more robust workforce with less points of failure if key members of the team were to leave There are many reasons to promote from within So take a look at your team and work out which staff members could be developed over the next year or so To be ready for promotion and start that development program So remember promoting from within plus developing opportunities are both great ways to motivate a team So there you have it. We've gone through 10 actions that will help you with the how to motivate a team question So to recap these are one set clear direction goals and expectations To be fair and consistent three be open and honest four be supportive and help team members five work hard to develop team members six protect your team seven learn to say no eight celebrate successes both publicly and privately nine manage your negative emotions carefully and ten promote from within where possible Of course, this is not an exhaustive list, but it will give you a good start in keeping your team happy and motivated Enjoy managing and leading your team Do visit us at enhance.training and take a look at the courses and resources to help you manage your team more effectively And if you like this video, please hit the thumbs up button below and subscribe and hit the bell to get notified of our weekly video releases This really helps us produce more videos to help you Thanks for watching and I look forward to seeing you again soon