The success of any company is based on the cohesive work of the team. Be it ten or several hundred people. Therefore, every employee must be clear about the end goal. And realize that he plays an important role in the process of achieving results. This creates increased motivation. And it allows you to achieve high speed and quality of project execution. And what could be better for a leader than an efficiently working team?
Sometimes a well-coordinated mechanism tends to malfunction: the working spirit decreases, the enthusiasm disappears. And the desire to work, of course. In a word, motivation goes away. But without it, productive activity is impossible.
This article will help you understand what motivation is. And also what role it plays in the work process. And what are the ways to increase employee motivation?
Motivation and its types - increased motivation
Motivation is the driving force. A kind of impulse that helps not to deviate from the plan and bring the matter to the end. When a person lacks motivation, it is difficult for him to force himself to overcome difficulties. And this is even if the final goal is very important to him. But no motivation means no action.
Motivation is usually divided into external and internal.
Extrinsic motivation
Extrinsic motivation occurs when a person strives to complete a task under the influence of specific factors. For example, an increased scholarship motivates a student to study well and pass exams successfully. But retaking the exam threatens complete deprivation of scholarship support.
For working personnel, external motivation is expressed in the form of bonuses. And an increase in wages coupled with the opportunity to move up the career ladder.
Get out of your comfort zone
Just do something you've never done before. Even if it has nothing to do with your work. First, changing your activities will help you take your mind off things, making it easier to solve the problem after a short time-out. Secondly, perhaps this new business will give you the impetus for a new business idea, which in itself will cause motivation. Or you will meet an influential person with whom you will become friends based on common interests (he doesn’t know that this is your first time doing this).
A side effect of your activity may be a pleasant reduction in excess weight. It's a small thing, but nice.
In general, don't be afraid to discover something new. And you will always have time to sit in your shell.
When should a manager start increasing employee motivation?
Motivating employees is a guarantee of high-quality performance of duties. And, of course, a responsible attitude to work. This is what attracts the best specialists to the company. And turns a beginner into a true professional in his field. The manager’s task is to promptly identify and eliminate a decline in motivation and maintain working spirit.
But sooner or later the incentives will have to be reconsidered. And here are the signs that this moment is close:
- frequent lateness to work;
- reluctance to implement changes in work activities;
- failure to complete work on time;
- failure to attend meetings and planning sessions without a valid reason;
- passive attitude towards existing problems and difficulties of the company;
- state of nervous tension and irritability;
- a large number of errors and shortcomings in working projects;
- an increase in the number of complaints and disputes related to the level of complexity of the work performed.
If the head of the organization has noticed at least part of the above mentioned points, the problem needs to be solved. For example, by developing a new motivation system. Or improve an existing one. Increased motivation at work will prevent productive employees from leaving. And it’s even better to reveal their abilities. A healthy spirit of competition and a desire to bring maximum benefit to the company will appear.
Important Notes
Before moving on to the techniques themselves, at least skim through this section. The information provided here will help you use self-motivation methods more effectively and avoid serious mistakes.
Popular Misconception
Many believe that strong motivation is a necessary condition for achieving goals. That is:
- To play sports, you need to really want to play sports.
- To learn a foreign language, you need to love it and enjoy it.
- To lose weight, you need to enjoy diet and exercise, etc.
As a result, people wait for a long time (sometimes for years) for the right mood, and before each major task they try to “wind up” themselves in every possible way. If for some reason they don’t get “super motivation,” they easily give up their plans.
In fact, strong motivation is not at all a prerequisite for completing tasks and achieving goals. We can play sports and learn a foreign language without feeling any craving for these activities and without getting any pleasure from them.
To begin to act, a rational decision is enough for us.
Strong motivation is, of course, great. But if we believe that it is right to act this way and not otherwise, then we can do without it. For example, to quit smoking, it is enough to understand that smoking is harmful and make an appropriate decision.
Believing in the need for motivation is often just a ploy to avoid completing a task:
— No motivation to work? Hooray! I'll be watching TV shows all day!
It is important to understand here that if the goal is really important to us, we can begin to act at any moment, relying only on self-discipline. In other words, the lack of strong motivation is not a reason to give up.
How to motivate yourself correctly and incorrectly
Now a few words about some common mistakes and problems due to which motivation techniques may not work.
1. A long period of apathy is an alarm signal. Sometimes you can hear the following complaints:
“I haven’t wanted to do anything at all for several months now.” Where can I get motivation?!
In such situations, you should first think not about motivation, but about health. Prolonged apathy may be a sign of overwork, lack of vitamins or various diseases (for example, hidden inflammatory processes). You need to see a therapist.
2. Don't expect motivation to appear on its own. Some people prefer to wait passively until they feel the urge to work out, exercise, or diet.
The problem is that such a desire may not appear very soon or may not appear at all. In order not to waste time, learn to “turn on” motivation yourself.
3. Motivation is always individual. The biggest mistake is trying to use methods that do not match your values and character.
We are different. And if the possession of status things really “motivates” one person to succeed, then for another it will only cause a contemptuous grin or an attack of “class hatred.” If you immediately feel that this method is “not for you,” it is better not to experiment.
4. Customize all techniques and techniques to suit you. Likewise: in their original form they may not work for you. For example, the advice to “reward yourself with something tasty” will not help you if you are not a gourmet at all. Use what is closest to you as a reward: reading books, walks, games, etc.
5. Alternate techniques. Sometimes we develop “tolerance” to certain methods of motivation: each time they begin to have a weaker effect. It is better to use several methods at once and alternate them regularly.
6. Teach to say “I want.” In their thoughts and in their everyday speech, people often use the following expressions:
— I have to quit smoking. — I have to write this article. — I need to go to training today.
The problem is that such expressions imply coercion, lack of desire and lack of freedom. It is difficult for a person to inspire himself when he feels like a slave acting under pressure.
In fact, most of what we do is the result of our voluntary choice. We quit smoking or go to the gym only because one day we ourselves wanted to. To remind yourself of this, learn to say this:
— I want to quit smoking. — I want to write this article. — I want to go to training today.
Often this change alone can help quickly restore motivation.
7. Break the “demotivation cycle.” Each failure undermines self-confidence, which leads to more failures. And vice versa: success motivates us and leads us to new successes.
If you find yourself in a “demotivation cycle,” strive at any cost to break it and feel the “taste of victory” again.
8. If you relapse, simply return to achieving your goal. One of the most serious thinking traps is reasoning in the spirit of “the barn burned down - the house burns.” That is, we miss one workout or break our diet, and we immediately have a desire to give up training and diet altogether.
In fact, missing one workout is not as bad as missing a week of training or giving up sports altogether. And eating one cake and returning to your diet is a hundred times better than starting to eat these cakes regularly.
Everyone has breakdowns. But only those who know how to “get up” after every “fall” achieve their goal.
Where to begin
And a little about how to start motivating yourself if you haven’t done this purposefully before. Listed below are several principles that will help you build your self-motivation system.
1. Find your values and “anti-values”. Think about what is most important to you in life, what you strive for and what you want to avoid. For example, values could be family, career and self-esteem, and “anti-values” could be poverty or loneliness.
Values and anti-values are like two sources of energy from which our motivation is “charged”. Many of the techniques presented here will address these "basics" in one way or another, so it's best to identify them early.
2. Always answer the question “why?” Before you take on any business, try asking yourself questions “why”, “why”, “so what” until you get to your true desires and values (see previous point). For example:
- Why am I going to do this project? To earn more. — Why do I want to earn more? To better provide for your family (value).
We can truly motivate ourselves only when we know why we are performing a particular task. As the famous psychiatrist Viktor Frankl said, if a person knows the “why”, he can withstand any “how”.
3. Set goals for yourself. Abstract needs do not inspire well. It is much easier for us to force ourselves to act if we have a specific goal.
| No: | Yes: |
| Play sports to improve your health. | Run a marathon, do 100 push-ups. |
| Learn English. | Learn English at Intermediate level. |
| Lose weight to look good. | Lose 10 kg. |
We recommend getting acquainted with the SMART technique.
4. Set intermediate goals. If a goal is difficult to achieve, break the “road” to this goal into separate stages (this process is called decomposition). For example:
Such small steps no longer seem too difficult, so it’s easier for us to motivate ourselves.
5. Think about situations in which you showed a high level of motivation. What motivated you then? Can you use this approach in other areas?
6. Plan your motivation. Make a list in advance of the most effective ways of motivation for you and look at this list as needed. Try to build some techniques into your schedule or workflow right away.
An example of integrating motivation techniques into a schedule
However, many methods are effective only when they are used spontaneously and at the right time.
Increased motivation - Non-material motivation
There are many different types of non-financial motivation. The main ones include:
- Praise from the leadership of the organization. This simple way to increase motivation is a big hit. A talented leader must notice not only mistakes. But also the achievements of subordinates. Praise makes you want to work even better and not disappoint your superiors. In many organizations, to this day, photographs of the best employees are hung on honor boards.
- Opportunity to improve your skills at company expense. Additional training improves professional skills and promotes career growth of working personnel.
- Organization of collective recreation. Teamwork involves not only joint work, but also relaxation. Spending time in nature, sports competitions, and joint visits to exhibitions and museums help unite the team. In this case, increased human motivation is based on the principle “who works well, rests well.”
- Feedback to subordinates. When a person knows that management listens to his opinion and uses his ideas to improve the company’s performance, there is even more zeal and desire to create new developments and business solutions.
Have a purpose in life
A person is motivated in most cases for results. Hence the first rule follows - set yourself a goal in your work. Set yourself a big, difficult goal. And then prove to yourself that you can get the things you want. Work for some time only on this goal. And only then switch to another job. At the same time, be sure to break the chosen goal into subgoals, and then the path will be quick. Keep a separate notebook specifically for all the goals and objectives you want to achieve. Review it periodically, adding and crossing out goals.
That is, initially imagine the goal and the ways to achieve it in great detail. Only then transfer them to paper, and then strictly follow the plan, allowing only small deviations, but staying on the same course.
Also, remember to choose only those goals that are uniquely interesting to you. Otherwise, what's the point?!
Method No. 5
And again: set goals.
Routes without a goal are chaotic
You will come to some result, but what kind of result it will be is unknown. Striving for something specific will either help you achieve what you want, or bring you as close as possible to what you want. Are you thinking about getting promoted? Study the theoretical side of this issue, ask yourself: what do I need to do and what kind of person do I need to become to take this position. Even if you do not receive the desired status, your area of competence will expand significantly.
Definition
So what is motivation?
Definition
Motivation is a psychophysiological process; a system of motives that encourages a person to act, thereby satisfying his needs. Motivation is individual, as it depends on the interests of people.
Recently, the concept of motive has increasingly begun to be replaced by goal, making them synonymous. It should be said that these processes are undoubtedly related to each other, but there is a distinctive feature: the goal is the final result of any activity, the motive is the reason that prompted this activity.
Therefore, it is very important that your motivation is systematized. An excellent and proven criterion for assessing the need is the question “what will I get from this?” It will help to effectively motivate you.
