How to motivate a team at work: 8 tips

In this article We are going to see a summary of how to motivate a work team, taking into account work psychology tools to answer this question. In addition, we will review the concept of work motivation.

• Related article: "Types of motivation: the 8 motivational sources"

What is work motivation?

Before seeing how to motivate a work team, let's see the key concepts.

Motivation refers to the personal component that is the cause of mobilization in a person to achieve certain objectives.

When we refer to work motivation, we are talking about all those components that motivate the subject to perform their work satisfactorily. When it comes to work groups this motivation It must be collective, and focused on all team members that cooperate with each other.

The idea is that all the subjects that are part of the work team are oriented to fulfill their assignments in a manner that is appropriate for the interests of the organization as a whole.

There are two sources of motivation, which are internal and external.

. Internal motivation is all that originates because the person wants to satisfy a personal desire; for example, learning a profession in a real work environment.

External motivation, on the contrary, is motivated by an object interest. That is to say, the subject is motivated based on what, after being fulfilled with her tasks, he will receive in return; It could be a salary increase, a bonus, etc.

How to motivate a team at work

Now we will see a list with the best techniques and tips on how to motivate groups according to organizational and work psychology; the order in which they are found does not determine their effectiveness.

1. good leadership

In order to achieve good performance by the members of a group, it is important that the leader not only focus on the direction of the project, but that is also capable of working with the human component of each of the team members.

A good leader not only demands results from his workers, but also cares that your needs are met, in addition to taking into account the different personal motivations of each of them.

• You may be interested in: "Types of Leadership: The 5 most common types of leaders"

2. good incentives

A salary increase or some occasional bonuses they are not enough to encourage the team to give the best of themselves, these are only short-term motivations. Only with them, after a while their effects end up diluting, and the members of the work team will feel uncomfortable or dissatisfied again.

The best work incentives are to provide workers with an optimal work environment for their daily performance, where they do not feel too pressured or uncomfortable regarding their situation labor. In addition, it is necessary to clearly define to each team member what their role is to play.

3. Prevent bullying

Workplace bullying is one of the main causes that workers feel frustrated and decrease their productivity and satisfaction. We must be attentive to this situation within our working groups, to don't let anyone suffer.

4. After-work programs

These types of initiatives are intended to provide workers knowledge and tools that improve their quality of life in general terms, and consequently their performance in terms of work will also be increased.

For example, some after-work programs could be; emotional management workshops, talks on assertive communication at work, implementing the practice of some sports discipline among the members of the work team, etc.

5. Provide information to the team

To the extent that the team feels more involved in the work project, it will be more likely that they will perform better with respect to each other's activities in their respective areas of action. The leader must ensure that he provides enough information to his workers to make them feel included and aware of what is happening.

6. recognize the effort

Every good employee likes his efforts to be recognized. Just letting employees know they're doing it right at a certain moment it will help them feel that their effort is worth it.

7. Create involved leaders

A fairly common mistake among work group leaders is to think that it is enough to give the necessary instructions for the work group to do the rest; nothing more counterproductive than this for the motivation of staff members.

A good leader not only says what has to be done, but also he also actively participates in the process of carrying out the activities. He shows the workers that he is one of them too and teaches by example.

8. Moderate rotations

No team member would like to be having to go through constant adaptation processes; that is why you must be careful when implementing rotations as a working method for your project. If you abuse this resource you could notice discouragement in your group.

The ideal is to create stable groups where each of the members of that department feels secure in their position and do not have the uncertainty that at any moment you will have to take your things and change your place.

9. Set clear, short-term goals

To motivate, it is very important to set goals that are not totally abstract, but easy to define, and that can also be broken down into other sub-goals in the medium and long term.

In this way, everyone will be clear about what to do and will be involved together in not losing the good rhythm that leads to the achievement of those goals. Otherwise, there would be no clear incentives and, due to sheer inertia, workers would tend not to worry much about giving up what is necessary.

Bibliographic references:

• Goldberg, Y.K., Eastwood, J.D., LaGuardia, J., Danckert, J. (2011). Boredom: An emotional experience distinct from apathy, Anhedonia, or depression. Journal of Social and Clinical.- Guilford Press.
• Rodriguez Fernandez, A. (2004). Psychology of organizations (1. ed. edition). Barcelona: Editorial UOC.
• Truxillo, D.M.; Bauer, T.N.; Erdoğan, B. (2016). Psychology and Work: Perspectives on Industrial and Organizational Psychology. New York: Psychology Press/Taylor & Francis.
• Uysal, M. (1994). Testing the push and pull factors. Annals of Tourism Research, 21(4):pp. 844 - 846.