The image that often pops into your mind when you hear about motivation is the idea of a carrot and a stick. This means using either rewards or punishment to get the job done or to make some behavioral change. But, today, as we learn more and more about people and human behavior we know that the task is far more complex than that. There are various actions you can undertake and some actions that are strictly prohibited. You should never threaten a person with extreme consequences in order to get something done. There’s nothing that can make them more upset and lead to the complete opposite of what you want. Here are quite a few positive and useful tips on how to motivate people for higher productivity. (Maximize Employee Output with Strong Leadership Skills)
Allot the Right Incentives :
Appeal to their need for acquiring things by providing rewards in the form of cash, kindness or recognition. Let them know in advance if you are going to reward performance and make it fully clear what it is that is expected out of them. Then, when they deliver the results make sure you keep your word, reward them as per your promise. Performance incentives are a very powerful tool and if you treat your employees fairly they will go the extra mile for you. Make sure that your program is well structured, well communicated and well understood throughout the company.
Make the goals achievable and divide into short term (low hanging grapes) and long term (annual harvest) goals. Discuss the goals and involve the employees in the goal setting exercise. That way you ensure buy in and the employees understand their stake in accomplishing the tasks that will help them reach the agreed goals. (Maximize Employee Output with Strong Leadership Skills)
Always Lend Them an Ear :
Always listen to your people and treat them with respect and kindness. Being arrogant and listening only to your own voice is as good as being blind and deaf. Be fair but firm. It’s important to stick to deadlines, and being too careless about it won’t work. Most importantly, reward them for working in teams. One plus one literally means three, maybe even four, in the context of the corporate world, as it is through interaction and sharing of knowledge that you arrive at the best and most innovative ideas and efforts. People also enjoy working with other people and when positive energy flows, it multiplies as the load is shared and work becomes fun.
Feed Them Back :
Offer fair feedback without aiming to curtail their creativity. You need to be very sensitive when doing this or you could easily demotivate. Always acknowledge and celebrate achievements, especially in public, preferably. Give people space to produce results. Give them the tools and the resources and support them in their endeavors in every way you can. All these are factors that will motivate them to give you back in kind. (Maximize Employee Output with Strong Leadership Skills)
Keep Your Communication Best at All Times :
Ultimately, always keep the channels of communication open. This will enable you to learn potential problems at an early stage and to fix them before the problem gets out of hand. Most often, the obstacles don’t come from things or situations; they arise from the people you are handling. When I was hiring people for my new business a few years ago, a friend told me that the best thing I could do to ensure my business ran smoothly was not to employ people at all!
That might be possible a few years down the line, with the Internet taking over completely, but right now, we do need people to work with. Even though we are working online, we are dealing with people. So, it is not really possible right now to eliminate the human factor from our dealings completely.
The fact is that we need people, and these people would be a great asset for us only if we are able to motivate them. These people should be supercharged so that they can work for themselves and for the group itself. (Maximize Employee Output with Strong Leadership Skills)
Also Read : Top Strategies to Motivate Yourself and Others Effectively
How do you handle the very negative trait of obstinacy?
Obstinacy is generally a sign of inflexibility and ignorance. You are going to come across it a lot. Obstinacy happens when people have a radically different opinion and are loyally stuck on it. For all that it takes; obstinacy needs to be stemmed out. It needs to be removed so that the way to progress is impressed more thoroughly. Good executives or leaders get their work done and their ends achieved by motivating their employees to give their best both individually as well as a team. They are willing to ignore individual weaknesses and to concentrate on using their people’s best strengths. Being concerned more with what they can do rather than what they cannot. They understand that to get the most out of them, they will need to motivate them.
So as a leader you need to know what all is going on inside the obstinate individual, what are his likes and dislikes, more importantly their fears. Once you know which buttons to push the rest becomes much easier. Some people respond to money, others respond to recognition. Ask any crooked businessperson about how to motivate a obstinate employee and he will give you the right answers!
The best way to motivate even the most obstinate person is to see how best you can help them to succeed and achieve their own personal goals.
Also Read : Inspirational Quotes To Keep You Motivated
Summary :
It is very important for you to show them their benefits that they will receive when the task for which you are motivating them has been fulfilled. If you are encouraging them to reach a particular goal, then they have to see the benefits. That gives them the reason to keep chasing that particular goal that you are guiding them for. What really matters here is that throughout the way, people should feel that they are unrestricted. They should feel that they can safely move on, without finding any obstacles to twist them from their path on the way. If it is your business team, you can manage things in a better way. You have to provide them with surplus opportunities so that they can keep progressing.