Browse Tag: performance improvement

More on team leadership in business and sport

Yesterday we looked at some of the lessons from successful sporting teams that we can apply to business and work teams, including:

  • Different Types of Competition
  • The Power of Discipline, and
  • The Importance of Teamwork and Trust.

    • Today I will share three more valuable insights you can apply from high performance sporting teams to fostering high performance business and work teams.

    A Common Goal:

    Share your vision with your team members and encourage them to commit to realising it. Look for any challenges that your team members are facing when they try to achieve their best. Ask your team members what you can do to help and empower them to do whatever it is they do best to help you achieve your vision and milestones.

    It is also important to ensure that everyone on your team really wants to be there. It’s very difficult to create a cohesive team if you have a reluctant member undermining the vision everyone else is trying to achieve. When someone has the skills and the commitment, both to the vision you are trying to realise and to the team that is trying to achieve it, you will create a powerful force that guarantees success.

    Individual Needs:

    No quality sporting coach puts every member of a team through exactly the same training regime. So be conscious of the individual needs of all members of your team.

    Find out why individual team members are actually working for you. This will help you identify specific ways to help them develop their skills or make best use of their existing skills and work preferences. You may even find that they would fit better into a different role all part of your organisation.

    Get to know everyone on your team well enough to understand exactly what their personal picture of success looks like to them and what qualities, skills and experiences they bring to the team. This will help you to help them to be more motivated in their contributions to the team and to achieving your company’s vision.

    Recognition:

    Finally, make it a habit to ask all your team members for their ideas and opinions. No one, including you, has a monopoly on good ideas. And in fact your team members who are working at the coalface can often understand the situation from a unique perspective, generating useful insights and opportunities for improvement.

    When you ask team members for their ideas you are acknowledging their personal value to the team and offering a special type of recognition that workers appreciate immensely.

    By being open to team members’ suggestions you will not only achieve an improved outcome, you will be building a more motivated and successful team.

    Kerrie Mullins-Gunst specializes in helping leaders and managers develop all the skills they need to mentor manage and lead. Check out this simple yet powerful tool to improve employee performance and boost workplace motivation: http://leadershipskillcenter.com/workplace-motivation/

    Workplace Motivation for Leaders

    I recently heard a story about a certain manager who argued that his role had nothing to do with motivating people.  Workplace motivation, he said, was the job of the Human Resources department!  

    I know you won’t be surprised to hear that I disagree.  What’s more, workplace motivation is one of the significant issues raised by many good managers, business owners and team leaders today. 

    Leading a motivated team is not only more productive, you will find it much more enjoyable and rewarding too.  Poorly motivated employees rarely function well as a team, and typically generate more stress for you than they do results.  So good leaders consider the impact of their actions on workplace motivation carefully. No one wants a demotivated workplace producing barely adequate outcomes and a stressful situation.  

    Here are three simple yet effective ways you can boost workplace motivation and morale: 

    1. Offer a Reward

    Rewards are motivating.  And although money is one type of reward, it is far from the only reward you can use. Frequently it’s not even the best reward to offer.  Exactly what rewards are most appropriate will vary from person to person and according your particular situation, but here are some ideas to consider.  

    For many people coaching them to develop new and better skills is a powerful and motivating reward. Encouragement, recognition, more trust or a promotion or new work title may be motivating to some of your people.  Likewise, for some more overtime, less travel, a special project or development opportunity or flexible work hours may help boost workplace motivation.  Once you start to think about it, and get to know your people well enough to know what they would appreciate, you will be able to think of a whole range of motivating rewards that are appropriate in your situation.  

    2. Listen to People

    Everyone likes to feel that their input and opinion is valued, respected and considered.  It takes only a moment – and an open attitude – to welcome input from each individual on your team. 

    Ask for their views and input.  Be genuinely willing to listen to people and you will see an amazing response from previously demotivated staff.

    3. Lighten up a Little

    Motivated employees enjoy their work.  Numerous studies have shown that people work harder, not less, when the workplace is a fun, happy and enjoyable place.  

    As leader, you get to set the tone for a happy workplace.  Take a moment to smile at people and ask after their family, hobbies or interests.  Encourage some team social activities.  Take the team out for coffee or bring in a cake to celebrate an achievement.  

    We spend many hours each day in the workplace.  Part of your role as the leader is to ensure your team are motivated to actually be there and contribute fully to reaching your team goals.  

    Believe me, everything will be easier for you as the leader if people enjoy actually being there, rather than dread coming to work each day.  

    Good leaders accept responsibility for workplace motivation and do what they can to foster it. When you apply these three simple concepts in your workplace you will quickly build a motivated, committed and successful workforce – and a pleasant place to work.

    For more ways to improve employee performance and boost workplace motivation check out this powerful tool:http://leadershipskillcenter.com/workplace-motivation/ from Kerrie Mullins-Gunst. Kerrie specialises in helping leaders and managers develop all the skills they need to mentor, manage and lead. 

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