When you’re running a business, or managing a team you’ll soon discover that morale is far more important than you may have thought. It’s hard to quantify, unlike raw productivity, profits or hours worked, but it affects all of those things and more. A well motivated workforce will work harder and better for you and go the extra mile, whether that’s burning midnight oil to bring a project in on time, or reaching new heights of innovation to find ways to do what they do better.
Recognition
One of the best ways to motivate your team is to simply recognise and acknowledge the work they do. This doesn’t have to be elaborate: a simple thank you for a task done well goes a long way to making an employee feel valued. Making sure you’re acknowledging their contribution to more senior members of staff when you present finished work is another good tactic: there’s nothing more demoralising than having someone else claiming your work, so the reverse motivates and energises people!
Going a bit further after difficult and busy times is another good motivator for people. The office Christmas party is often the light at the end of the tunnel for teams who are stretched to the limit getting all the necessary work done before Christmas. If you’re looking to reward your employees with an event and you’re searching for London venue hire solutions, click here for more information.
Communication
Good communication is an underused tool for building team morale. If people don’t know why they’re doing what they’re doing, or can’t see the results, or can but they’re hidden from the rest of the company, motivation leeches away.
After a big project, make sure your team can see the results: break down everyone’s contribution, to show how everyone on the team has fed through into the final result and then, where you can, go into the effect this has had on the company. Finishing on a strong, easily digestible finale line will make sure everyone leave feeling good. Aim for something like “And we’ve saved the company £100,000” or “And that’s doubled our profits!”
It’s as important to spread the good news to other teams. If your team feels like they’re working in a ghetto, fenced off and misunderstood by the rest of the company, it’s not just their motivation that suffers, it harms their ability to work with other teams when they need to. Sending a quick, business-like update to other department heads spreads the good news and makes sure everyone knows they’re working together for the same results!