Your Motivation Strategy
How to motivate others has been the number one talking point asked of me in the last 12-18 months. Leaders particularly want to understand how to activate people to proactively ‘do what needs to be done’ without the niggle (i.e. grunts, grumbles, and glitches). Businesspeople and sales staff also want to motivate their clients and external stakeholders to partners with them to achieve the desired outcome. And everyone wants people around them to buy-into their ideas and strategies.
To motivate others is as simple as giving them a What’s In It For Me (WIIFM) or maybe even just listening to what they want. But I agree with Walt Disney when he said, “I always like to look on the optimistic side of life, but I am realistic enough to know that life is a complex matter.” Motivating other is indeed a complex matter.
To wade through the complexity, I have attempted to summarise how we can motivate others in a series of pieces based on Self-Determination Theory (SDT):
The first lever (money)– the easiest and quickest way to get someone to do something is to pay for it or pay them more for it.
The obvious (recognition) – when people are seen and appreciated, they feel valued. Knowing their effort is valued they do the work and happily do more of it.
The irreplaceable (time) – give people your time (and attention) and they will gain the ability and knowledge with increased loyalty to do what needs to be done and do more of it.
The connector (energy) – intentionally give energy to others and invigorate them to do what needs to be done and do more of it.
The context (meaning)– educate people on how their work fits into the bigger picture and they will do what needs to be done and do more of it.
The grease (clarity)– when people know exactly what is expected and how to get things done, they will do what needs to be done without hesitation and do more of it.
The warm blanket (safety) – when people feel protected and cared for, they can do what needs to be done with freedom and without distraction and will do more of it.
The vibe (environment)– when people feel familiar, relaxed and at ease with the people around them, they do what needs to be done for the group and do more of it.
The ultimate (trust) – when people feel trusted and have trust in their colleagues (and themselves!) there is little (if any) resistance or dissuasion to do the work and more of it with complete and honest effort.
These nine factors may be arranged visually like this:
Source: Paul Farina
All are helpful and relevant to motivating people. When people are showing demotivation it can be helpful to ask…
What am I leaning on too heavily?
We all have ways of motivating others that are either easy or comfortable for us. But this can be fatiguing and create a leadership ‘repetitive strain injury’. There tends to be a diminishing return on effort when one or two methods are overused.
What am I under-utilising?
Often, we have low-to-no cost options accessible to us that we’ve forgotten about, or can be introduced to spice things up and inject some freshness just like a new exercise regime.
There is an opportunity to ask ourselves “why am I not prioritising actions that will benefit me and my people over old habits I know are causing friction?” The answers to this reflection can be monumental in value.
What do they need from me right now?
Reflect on what the people most need now. This can give us the biggest impact for our efforts that will be appreciated (and possibly even reciprocated). I think of it like dressing seasonally and updating the wardrobe age-appropriately! What is right for now, not Autumn/Winter 2012?
Motivating others is both simple and complex. It is choice and it is circumstantial. It can be influenced yet it is the ultimate responsibility of the individual.
To manage all of our variables and get the job done we have no option but to engage with all the motivating options at our disposal. Sometimes simultaneously. Surely this must be a priority if we are to lead others and set up short, mid, and long-term performance. It is an investment we can make which tends to pay back many times over.
