Team motivation: what it is and how to encourage it

We live in the era of competitiveness, and having the most motivated human team possible is essential for most companies.

However, it is not always easy to achieve this effect. In order to delve into this question, we are going to do a review by some of the most important keys that raise team motivation and thus facilitate the achievement of the objectives set.

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What is team motivation and why is it essential?

In the times in which we have had to live, markets dominate everything, and for this reason it is essential that each company tries to stand out from the rest, and this would never be achieved without a solid human team behind that carries out the work in the most efficient way possible, so that finally it is your product or service that captivates the consumer ahead of the rest of options. But for that to happen, workers must be committed to the organization, and this is achieved through team motivation.

A team that is not motivated is not going to perform as well as it could, and therefore we will be wasting valuable potential, because the members of our team department will provide a version of themselves that is probably not the best, the most creative or the most efficient, as a person motivated and involved in a project undergoes a transformation and generates work of a quality that is difficult to achieve otherwise, hence the extraordinary importance of team motivation.

Motivation is what gives people the energy to move towards a goal, not only in the workplace but in any plane of the life of a human being. Team motivation, therefore, would be the key to ensuring that all the components of our work group carry out the behaviors that we seek, without skimping on efforts, thus facilitating the achievement of all the purposes that have been established to complete the project satisfactorily.

The keys to enhancing team motivation

We already know the importance of correctly motivating teams, but the most important part remains: what are the keys to be able to carry this out.

The first thing to keep in mind is that eThe motivational process cannot be fully extrapolated from one person to another, since each individual will be motivated more by some reinforcements than others. What is certain is that some general lines can be established, which are the ones that we are going to describe below, in order to design an effective motivational plan.

1. Salary

Obviously, the main factor that comes into play in team motivation is salary. And is that financial remuneration (sometimes supported by supplements in kind) is essential for the initiation and maintenance of an employment relationship. The salary must reach a minimum threshold for the person who receives it if we want the rest of the factors to fulfill their function motivating, since if we do not cover their most basic needs we can hardly expect that the worker is engaged.

However, salary has a limit in its motivating effect. After a figure (which is different for each person), motivation stops increasing through this factor, and we can only maximize it in combination with the other factors.

In short, salary is a basic motivator, and without it the other criteria do not work, but after a limit, it is only the rest that continue to have an effect. It is important to take this mechanism into account if we want to achieve the best results in our team motivation.

2. Increase

Another motivating factor in a job are growth expectations, knowing that a professional career can be pursued within the company which will entail a series of promotions, improvements in conditions, increased responsibilities and even managing increasingly numerous teams of people.

This professional growth also entails personal growth, which helps the individual to reach the peak of needs according to Maslow's pyramid, which is none other than the self realisation.

3. Dynamism

In most cases, monotonous, repetitive and mechanical jobs soon end up overwhelming the worker and they cause you to lose motivation towards the task. That is why it is important to introduce some dynamism, where possible, since not all jobs allow the same degree of change in procedures. Modifications and variety will keep the team active-minded and more motivated.

Of course, the changes must be moderate and always with a correspondence towards the aptitudes and abilities of the worker, since a radical change and entrusting him with tasks that have nothing to do with his usual position could cause frustration and therefore the opposite effect to what we are looking for with this mechanism.

4. Work environment

Likewise, it will be essential have a good work environment if we want to succeed in our team motivation program.

Let us bear in mind that the worker will spend most of his day at the workplace, interacting with his colleagues. Therefore, it is essential that there is a work environment, if not good, at least neutral, because if every day they were negative interactions between workers, motivation would drop drastically, as is logical.

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5. Efficient communication

Another factor necessary to develop team motivation is effective communication, at all levels. This means that there must be clear lines of communication that are known to all those involved, so that the messages arrive and are answered with fluency, whether between project colleagues, between subordinates and managers and vice versa. If a worker tries to convey a message and does not have a clear communication channel or does not receive a response, he will be frustrated and demotivated.

The usual secrecy, the lack of transparency in communications, will also cause a decrease in team motivation, as workers will feel alien to the company and therefore they will not be driven to get involved in the achievement of its objectives, since they will see it as a totally independent entity from them themselves. It is essential that communication flows for a team to feel like one.

6. Recognition of achievements

Recognizing workers for the achievements they have made, letting them know of their worth and their importance to the company, is a highly motivating factor. If we want a person to be involved in a common challenge, it is necessary that you feel like an essential part to achieve the objective. If, on the other hand, we ignore him or miss his achievements, what we will achieve is that he leaves to make an effort, since you will be losing the social reinforcement, which is essential in team motivation.

7. Workload

It is clear that the workload assigned to the worker and the team itself has to be reasonable. At any given moment you can ask for an extra effort (always accompanied by the appropriate motivational factors), but if this becomes a constant, the only thing we will achieve will be a group of totally exhausted people who in no way will have the necessary motivation to carry out the challenges that we have assigned.

8. Defined objectives

This point has to do with the communication that we mentioned earlier. Sometimes team leaders are well aware of the objectives to be met and the tasks to be done to achieve them, but they fail to transmit these concepts to the workers at their position. For a correct team motivation it is necessary to communicate with total clarity what are the objectives that we must achieve, what are the tools that we have and the deadlines that have to be met.

If, on the other hand, the team lives in constant uncertainty in which priorities fluctuate depending on the day, motivation will be lost. In addition, the appropriate level of importance must be assigned to each task. An example of ineffective work dynamics would be to assign top priority to absolutely all requested tasks. The problem is that when everything is urgent, nothing is urgent, since the focus of the true priority is lost.

10. Leader

All the points we have seen so far are essential to achieve team motivation, but possibly none would work if the team did not have the leadership suitable. The leader is the captain, the one who must lead the way and set an example. He should not demand anything from the members of his team that he has not demonstrated before with his own work.. That attitude is one of the biggest motivators a team can find.

If at the head of the group we have a person who radiates energy, who is fair and hard-working, who assigns tasks with good judgment, gives some autonomy to its members, perfectly communicates the messages and is decisive in the incidents that arise, we will have a large part of the team motivation done.

Bibliographic references:

• Boada, J., Diego, R., Agulló, E. (2004). Burnout and psychosomatic manifestations as a consequence of the organizational climate and work motivation. Psicothema.
• Marin H.S., Placencia, M.D. (2017). Motivation and job satisfaction of the staff of a private sector health organization. Medical Horizon (Lima).
• More, J.L. (2005). Labor motivation and human resource management in the theory of Frederick Herzberg. Management in the third millennium.