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Guest post by: Alan Fairweather Become an Author

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Let me ask you a simple question. Do you, as a manager, want a highly motivated team who don't take time off work, who achieve their goals and objectives, and don't stress you out in the process?

I'm sure the answer is - Yes! However, you're no doubt asking how you're supposed to achieve this 'miracle.'

The one thing you need to know about team motivation is that - there's no such thing! Okay, so the football manager 'motivates' the team by getting them together at half-time and 'explaining' how they're about to lose the game unless they start to play a lot better. (This, of course, is the polite version)

However, the only way to build a highly motivated team is to concentrate on individual motivation and create an environment where the individual 'motivates them self.'

Every member of your team is a complex and complicated human being and they all have different needs. Your job, as a Motivational Manager, is to find out what these needs are, and satisfy them.

There are 3 actions you can take

1. Spend some quality time with each team member - One or two minutes of quality time on a regular basis is far more productive than an appraisal once a year. You need to get to know the individual better and they need to get to know you. You'll gain a much better understanding of them and how they're handling the job. It will also send the message that you care about them and show that you're there to help with problems, both personal and business.

2. Give feedback and coach them - You need to regularly tell each of your team members when they're doing well and when not so well.

This is where so many employers and managers fall down in dealing with their people; they're hopeless at giving feedback! Many managers are uncomfortable telling staff how they feel about their work performance. Some managers still believe - "Why should I praise people when they're only doing what they're paid to do!"

However, most employees want to know how they are performing in their job; they want to know if they are doing it right or how they could do it better.

If you really want to motivate your team members then you need to 'catch them doing something right' and tell them about it. If, on the other hand, you hear or observe them doing something you're not happy about, then you need to tell them what needs improved and coach them.

It's important to tell the team member when they're not performing. There are too many managers who either ignore poor behaviour or come down on the person like a ton of bricks. There are particular ways to give feedback and coach and they're described in detail in my book - How to be a Motivational Manager.

3. Be a believer - You need to constantly demonstrate to the team member that you trust and believe in them, by what you say, your tone of voice and your body language.

They will very quickly sense if you don't trust them to carry out their job and they'll act accordingly.

If you believe that your people are not to be trusted to do their job; that they'll turn up late and go home early, then that is exactly what they'll do.

On the other hand, if you believe that your people will do their job well, that they can be trusted to make decisions that are good for the business and that they'll give you a fair day's work, then it is more likely this is what you'll get.

As with all theories, there is no guarantee that this will work every time. However the majority of people in this world are reasonable people; if you treat them as such they're more likely to behave in a positive manner.

So there you have it; Motivational Managers know that to get the best out of their people they need to concentrate on the human interactions and make that emotional connection with each individual team member.

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