10 Ways to Motivate Your Team

While the saying “You can’t motivate anyone, they have to motivate themselves” may be true from a psychological perspective, people are more likely to motivate themselves when a manager creates a motivating workplace environment. Employees give 110 percent because they want to work hard, not because they have to. 

Leaders must understand that in today’s new workplace, there does not exist a single recipe to motivate employees. Rather, it’s about how to maximize the ingredients in order to create hundreds of recipes that are customized and authentic; that provide long-term engagement. To get you started, here are ten ways to motivate your team.

1. Follow the platinum rule. 
The Golden Rule (treat others as you want to be treated) has a fatal flaw: it assumes that all people want to be treated the same way. It ignores the fact that people are motivated by vastly different things. One person loves public recognition, while another loathes being the center of attention. The Platinum Rule (treat others as they want to be treated) corrects that flaw. Good managers are great at reading other people, and they adjust their behavior and style accordingly.

2. Be strong without being harsh. 
Strength is an important quality in a leader. People will wait to see if a leader is strong before they decide to follow his or her lead or not. People need courage in their leaders. They need someone who can make difficult decisions and watch over the good of the group. They need a leader who will stay the course when things get tough. People are far more likely to show strength themselves when their leader does the same. A lot of leaders mistake domineering, controlling, and otherwise harsh behavior for strength. They think that taking control and pushing people around will somehow inspire a loyal following. Strength isn’t something you can force on people; it’s something you earn by demonstrating it time and again in the face of adversity. Only then will people trust that they should follow you.

3. Remember that communication is a two-way street. 
Many managers think that they’re great communicators, not realizing that they’re only communicating in one direction. Some pride themselves on being approachable and easily accessible, yet they don’t really hear the ideas that people share with them. Some managers don’t set goals or provide context for the things they ask people to do, and others never offer feedback, leaving people wondering if they’re more likely to get promoted or fired.

4. Be a role model, not a preacher. 
Great leaders inspire trust and admiration through their actions, not just their words. Many leaders say that integrity is important to them, but great leaders walk their talk by demonstrating integrity every day. Harping on people all day long about the behavior you want to see has a tiny fraction of the impact you achieve by demonstrating that behavior yourself.

5. Be transparent. 
Good managers are transparent and forthcoming about company goals, expectations, and plans. When managers try to sugarcoat, mask, or euphemize in order to make things seem better than they are, employees see right through it.

6. Be humble. 
Few things kill motivation as quickly as a boss’s arrogance. Great bosses don’t act as though they’re better than you, because they don’t think that they’re better than you. Rather than being a source of prestige, they see their leadership position as bringing them additional accountability for serving those who follow them.

7. Take a genuine interest in employees’ work-life balance. 
Nothing burns good employees out quite like overworking them. It’s so tempting to work your best people hard that managers frequently fall into this trap. Overworking good employees is perplexing to them; it makes them feel as if they’re being punished for their great performance. Overworking employees is also counterproductive. New research from Stanford shows that productivity per hour declines sharply when the work week exceeds 50 hours, and productivity drops off so much after 55 hours that you don’t get anything out of the extra work.

8. Recognize great work.
Who in your team goes the extra mile, consistently performs above expectations, or behaves in a way that reflects your company values? From those that make time to help new joiners settle in, to those that never miss a deadline, make time to let employees know how much you appreciate their effort. Try to recognize attitude as well as performance; an employee with a fantastic work ethic and a positive outlook can do just as much for team morale and motivation as someone consistently hitting their targets, so show them how much they are valued. A simple ‘thank you’ or ‘well done’ can do the trick if you haven’t got a formal recognition scheme in place – it’s just important to show recognition in a timely, consistent and meaningful way.

9. Offer career progression.
Most employees will want the opportunity to progress in their roles, and if there is a lack of progression available, they’re likely to lose motivation and will eventually look for a new job. Let employees know that there’s a career path for them within the company, and encourage them to get involved in additional projects where possible, to take on more responsibility and gain new skills. Try to provide training – whether on-the-job or external, and discuss any promotion opportunities they can work towards. Find out their career goals and how you can support their development; it shows you’re invested in them and value their contribution.

10. Build trust as a leader.
People respect others that they can trust: if your team members don’t trust you, you’ll have difficulty motivating them. Gaining trust requires time and transparency; a good leader is open, honest and shows respect for their whole team. Employees who know they can trust their manager will feel comfortable approaching them if they have any issues or feel unmotivated. It’s far better that they discuss their issues with you rather than look for a new job elsewhere.

Motivating your employees can never be overvalued. Make sure it’s at the top of your agenda. When you show an interest in motivating your employees, your employees will show an increased interest in working for you.

10 Ways You’re Demotivating Your Employees That You Need To Stop Right Now

Organizations know how important it is to have motivated, engaged employees, but most fail to hold managers accountable for making it happen. Most managers don’t demotivate their employees on purpose. They act improperly without thinking about what damage they are doing to the enthusiasm and motivation of their employees.

Few things are as costly and disruptive to a business as managers who kill morale. Demotivated employees underperform, and then jump ship at the first opportunity.

What follows are some of the worst behaviors that managers need to eradicate from the workplace.

1. Making a lot of stupid rules. Companies need to have rules—that’s a given—but they don’t have to be short sighted and lazy attempts at creating order. Whether it’s an overzealous attendance policy or taking employees’ frequent flier miles, even a couple of unnecessary rules can drive people crazy. When good employees feel like big brother is watching, they’ll find someplace else to work.

2. Letting accomplishments go unrecognized. It’s easy to underestimate the power of a pat on the back, especially with top performers who are intrinsically motivated. Everyone likes kudos, none more so than those who work hard and give their all. Rewarding individual accomplishments shows that you’re paying attention. Managers need to communicate with their people to find out what makes them feel good (for some, it’s a raise; for others, it’s public recognition) and then to reward them for a job well done. With top performers, this will happen often if you’re doing it right.

3. Hiring and promoting the wrong people. Good, hard-working employees want to work with like-minded professionals. When managers don’t do the hard work of hiring good people, it’s a major demotivator for those stuck working alongside them. Promoting the wrong people is even worse. When you work your tail off only to get passed over for a promotion that’s given to someone who glad-handed their way to the top­­­­­­­, it’s a massive insult. No wonder it makes good people leave.

4. Treating everyone equally. While this tactic works with school children, the workplace ought to function differently. Treating everyone equally shows your top performers that no matter how high they perform (and, typically, top performers are work horses), they will be treated the same as the bozo who does nothing more than punch the clock.

5. Tolerating poor performance. It’s said that in jazz bands, the band is only as good as the worst player; no matter how great some members may be, everyone hears the worst player. The same goes for a company. When you permit weak links to exist without consequence, they drag everyone else down, especially your top performers.

6. Going back on their commitments. Making promises to people places you on the fine line that lies between making them very happy and watching them walk out the door. When you uphold a commitment, you grow in the eyes of your employees because you prove yourself to be trustworthy and honorable (two very important qualities in a boss). But when you disregard your commitment, you come across as slimy, uncaring, and disrespectful. After all, if the boss doesn’t honor his or her commitments, why should everyone else?

7. Being apathetic. More than half of people who leave their jobs do so because of their relationship with their boss. Smart companies make certain their managers know how to balance being professional with being human. These are the bosses who celebrate an employee’s success, empathize with those going through hard times, and challenge people, even when it hurts. Bosses who fail to really care will always have high turnover rates. It’s impossible to work for someone eight-plus hours a day when they aren’t personally involved and don’t care about anything other than your productivity. 

8. Micromanaging and not empowering. It’s difficult to take ownership and focus on being productive with your boss leaning over you, monitoring your every move—like a babysitter. When managers demand to sign off on all work assignments, employees are often left waiting for approval on several projects at a time and find themselves scrambling to meet looming deadlines. Micromanaging kills creativity, chases away top talent, and results in average workers.

9. Not encouraging development and offer opportunities for growth. Repeating the same tasks and responsibilities, without new challenges, can negatively affect our attitudes, and this is no different in the work environment. Employees understand that continued learning is the best way to remain current and employable, so to ignore this will only hinder your employees, and your business. If a workplace feels stagnant, non-progressive and uninspired – your employees’ motivation levels will soon dwindle.

10. Poor leadership. Effective leadership is an essential factor in the motivation of your staff. If strong leadership is lacking or is negatively affecting the outlook of the team – certain employees may start to feel demoralized.  Leaders must have a flexible, inclusive approach to managing a team and be able to communicate clearly whilst instilling confidence and focus. If a particular team or individual is lacking motivation in your business, it may be due to a lack of good management.

Many companies treat employees as disposable. Employees generally receive inadequate recognition and reward. Many say management is much more likely to criticize them for poor performance than praise them for good work.

Management inadvertently makes it difficult for employees to do their jobs. Excessive levels of required approvals, endless paperwork, insufficient training, failure to communicate, infrequent delegation of authority, and a lack of a credible vision contribute to employees' frustration.
Most companies have it all wrong. They don't have to motivate their employees. They have to stop demotivating them.

Lean Quote: People Don't Resist Change So Much As They Resist Being Changed

On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on this journey because without learning we can not improve.

"People don't resist change. They resist being changed."   — Peter Senge

It’s often said that people don’t resist “change” so much as they resist “being changed.” 

Yes, it is true things cannot get better without changing. But even knowing this we generally dislike change. We fight it, delay it, and argue against it.

WHY is this so? I’d like to offer three reasons. I’m not suggesting these are the only reasons. But I suspect they cover the majority of reasons we resist change.

Change makes us uncomfortable. We resist the change that requires changing ourselves because changing ourselves is uncomfortable. We get used to the way we are. We become accustomed to the way we do things. We become entrenched in the way we think. Changing these things brings uncertainly and unpredictability. So we resist.

Change makes us fearful. Change implies that the future will be different than the present. And because unknowns create uncertainty, and because uncertainty creates fear—change makes us fearful. Fear does not sit well with us. We avoid it when we can. One way to avoid it is to resist change. So we do.

Change requires work. Even if we see that the change will be beneficial. Even if we know that the change is necessary. We still resist it because we don’t want to do the work required. We settle for not making the change because in the end it’s easier. We choose easy over hard. We choose neglect over resolve. We choose the easy and familiar path over the hard and unknown path.

We don’t really resist the change—we resist changing ourselves. Change makes us uncomfortable. Change makes us fearful. Change is hard work. The next time you’re faced with a change, it might be good to keep this in mind. It may help you plunge in. It may help you not only face the change, but actually embrace it.

Lean Tips Edition #155 (#2536 - 2550)

For my Facebook fans you already know about this great feature. But for those of you that are not connected to A Lean Journey on Facebook or Twitter I post daily a feature I call Lean Tips.  It is meant to be advice, things I learned from experience, and some knowledge tidbits about Lean to help you along your journey.  Another great reason to like A Lean Journey on Facebook.

Click this link for A Lean Journey's Facebook Page Notes Feed.

Here is the next addition of tips from the Facebook page:

Lean Tip #2536 – Don’t Try a Solution before You Really Understand the Problem

You might start out believing you know where the problem is in your processes. You might already have a solution in mind. However, if you start out by changing processes without analyzing the problem, you may find that the problem isn’t what you thought it was. You may even make it worse.

Bring together people with different perspectives on the problem in your process. Talk about what everyone thinks is going wrong and listen to their ideas about solutions. It’s likely you’ll get insight you didn’t anticipate so you can make better solutions.

Lean Tip #2537 – Mapping Can Be an Effective Tool

Mapping your business processes is a formal way to bring together everyone’s insight on the problem. It creates a consensus view of what’s going on in your organization, and allows you to model the impact of solutions on the entire process, not just the problematic step or steps.

Lean Tip #2538 – Make Sure Technological Solutions Actually Solve the Problem

Technology has solved so many problems it’s easy to imagine that it can solve any problem. However, before you deploy any technological solution, make sure that it will actually address the shortcoming in your business process and not just give your team the tools to keep making the same mistakes faster and more frequently.

Lean Tip #2539 – Make the Smallest Effective Change

You want to make a change that will solve the problem, but try to make business process changes as minimal as possible. The more changes you make, the more time you will lose in retraining and transitioning from the old process to the new process.

The more changes you introduce, the greater the uncertainty about the effect of those changes. Making precise, targeted changes to your process reduces the risk that unintended consequences can make you worse off than you were before.

Lean Tip #2540 – Management Must Model the New Rules

This should go without saying, but nothing will undermine the effectiveness of but nothing will undermine a new business process faster than management not following the new rules. The rules are either there for everyone, or they’re there for no one.

Once management starts to “cheat” on the new process, people take it as a sign that the process is no good, and everyone will look for ways to cheat. Chaos will result as everyone is looking for shortcuts and doing things the way they want them done (often the way that sloughs the most work off their desk and onto someone else’s).

You have to stick to your new process long enough for everyone to learn it thoroughly and follow it smoothly before you can truly assess its impact.

Lean Tip #2541 – Don't Forget How Processes Interact -- Think Global While Acting Local

While many processes stand alone, the chances are good that every process is a part of a bigger whole. As your team begins to consider the process at hand, don't lose sight of how that process integrates with everything else. Plan for it. Make sure that you're not making something else worse in an effort to solve a different problem. This may mean attacking multiple processes at once in some cases. As you plan for improvements, step back and from a high level, try to determine what will happen once proposed changes are made.

Lean Tip #2542 – Look for Immediate Time Savings

In one project I led, in our very first meeting, we did a quick, high-level process mapping to ensure that we have all of the process stakeholders in the room. During that meeting, we discovered that one of the process owners was spending about two days per month creating reports for the next process owner in the chain and had been doing so for years. The catch? The reports were never used. The person received them and simply discarded them. Without a second thought, we nixed that step of the process before we made any other changes. So there was an immediate, tangible benefit resulting from the time we spent simply talking about the process.

You might not have to be too formal in your efforts. Sometimes, just a bit of communication can yield huge time savings.

Lean Tip #2543 – Make Sure the Right People are Involved

Make sure you include everyone who has a stake in the process. If you don't, your efforts will fail. Those excluded will know they've been excluded and will resist any proposed changes. Further, your efforts won't be as complete as they otherwise could be.

Just because someone is involved doesn't mean that that person will cooperate. I've been involved in process improvement efforts with people who were less than cooperative, and it really affects the possible outcomes. In every organization, I believe that people have a responsibility for improving the workplace, which should be included in annual performance reviews. If someone is truly combative just to resist the change, it should be reflected there. That said, if people have valid points and you simply don't agree, don't punish them! The goal here is inclusiveness, not divisiveness.

Lean Tip #2544 – Figure Out Your Measuring Stick

If you can't measure it, you can't fix it. You must identify the metrics by which you will gauge process improvement project success. The "pain" metric was probably determined when you figured out which processes to attack first, but the success metric should also be targeted. For example, are you trying to reduce customer on-hold time for support to two minutes or less? Whatever your metric is, define it and measure success against it.

Lean Tip #2545 – Don't Assume Automation

When people hear "business process improvement," they often just assume that is code for "IT is going to automate the process." That's certainly not always the case, although IT systems will often play a large role in these efforts. It's just as likely that non-IT-focused efforts will play as big a role as -- or a bigger role than -- IT-based systems.

Don't limit yourself. Think outside the system!

Lean Tip #2546 – Define the Change

Change is often not fully articulated at the beginning of a change management process. Due to the iterative nature of change, it may be necessary to not just define the change at the outset, but redefine the change at various steps along the way. Updates should be provided frequently to mitigate rumors, answer questions, and provide reassurance. The faster change is happening, or if it begins to accelerate, the more frequent updates should be.

Lean Tip #2547 – Celebrate the Old

All too often, old policies, programs, strategies, and work are dismissed out of hand as a new direction unfolds. For employees who worked hard on those items, this can be a major slap in the face, erode morale, and lead to more concern. During a period of change, leaders should recognize that such work happened, was important, and had meaning. Underappreciated employees will have a harder time embracing new initiatives.

Lean Tip #2548 – Articulate Challenges

All changes come with risk of the unknown, uncertainty, and other potential challenges. It is important that companies are upfront about the challenges that may be faced. Even if those challenges have not been fully identified and planned for, it is a good move to try and discuss the potential challenges, the range of those challenges, and what the company is doing or will do to address them.

Lean Tip #2549 – Find Key Influencers to Promote Change

Every organization has key players who have earned the respect of their coworkers, have longevity (and therefore perspective), and are influential. Getting key players on board and letting them act as a sounding board can help senior leaders better understand how change is being perceived, refer recurring issues, and become advocates for the change. Walking these influence-leaders through the change process and getting them on board can help with communication and confidence during the change period.

Lean Tip #2550 – Prepare for Roadblocks

No matter how thoroughly you prepare for change, everything is not always going to go according to plan. You need to be ready for a number of potential outcomes.

By doing your best to anticipate roadblocks, you can take some of the mystery out of the equation. Empower your employees to modify their behavior by removing the obstacles that prevent them from working toward change. Once those hindrances are identified, even the most complex problems can be addressed and corrected.

11 Years Blogging - Happy Anniversary A Lean Journey

I don't know why I do it but I enjoy celebrating the anniversary of this blog every year. Last week marked the eleventh year publishing articles on a A Lean Journey.

I’d like to think that I turned my naive endeavor to share learning along my own journey into a successful contribution in the Lean community. As I have said before this labor of love has been a tremendous learning process both from the great fans and other colleagues online that I exchange with and from the process of distilling my own learning with you.

Some may be asking how do you define success for a blog?  I think like most publications it is basically about audience.  Are you growing followers? Are people reading your posts? So like in previous years we can look at the number visitors, Facebook fan, tweeps on Twitter, and LinkedIn members as an indication of growth.

I love statistics, so with this milestone, here are some numbers from the blog:

Total Posts: 1921

Most read post:  The Six-Step Problem-Solving Process with over 34,370 views

followed by DOWNTIME and the Eight Wastes with over 31,900 views

and by What Do We Mean By True North? with over 28,440 views

Number of countries/territories who have visited this blog:  229

Top 5 Countries with the most views:

U.S.A. – 46%

United Kingdom – 8%

India – 6%
Canada – 5%

Australia – 3%

Total views:  Over 1,633,650 and climbing

Unique visits: Over 1,306,450

Total comments:  Over 1,500

Total Facebook Fans: Over 2,275

Total Twitter Followers: Over 3,675

LinkedIn Members: Over 1,200

Total Tips Shared: Over 2,550

Top 5 posts this past year:

20 (Lean) Things To Do In 2020 To Improve Your Business

The Role of Catchball in Lean and Strategic Planning

5 Ways to Cultivate a Problem Solving Culture

5 Myths of Standard Work

Leaders Need to Lead – Six Principles of Lean Leader

I would like to thank all the visitors and contributors to A Lean Journey Blog this year and every year.  It has been a successful journey. Please, share your feedback so that A Lean Journey can be even more successful in the future.

Lean Quote: Three Key Goals of People at Work

On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on this journey because without learning we can not improve.

"No man can be successful, unless he first loves his work."   — David Sarnoff (CEO, RCA)

The great majority of employees are quite enthusiastic when they start a new job. But in about 85 percent of companies, our research finds, employees' morale sharply declines after their first six months—and continues to deteriorate for years afterward.

To maintain the enthusiasm employees bring to their jobs initially, management must understand the three sets of goals that the great majority of workers seek from their work—and then satisfy those goals:

• Equity: To be respected and to be treated fairly in areas such as pay, benefits, and job security.
• Achievement: To be proud of one's job, accomplishments, and employer.
• Camaraderie: To have good, productive relationships with fellow employees.

To maintain an enthusiastic workforce, management must meet all three goals. Indeed, employees who work for companies where just one of these factors is missing are three times less enthusiastic than workers at companies where all elements are present.

One goal cannot be substituted for another. Improved recognition cannot replace better pay, money cannot substitute for taking pride in a job well done, and pride alone will not pay the mortgage.

Satisfying the three goals depends both on organizational policies and on the everyday practices of individual managers. If the company has a solid approach to talent management, a bad manager can undermine it in his unit. On the flip side, smart and empathetic managers can overcome a great deal of corporate mismanagement while creating enthusiasm and commitment within their units. While individual managers can't control all leadership decisions, they can still have a profound influence on employee motivation.

The most important thing is to provide employees with a sense of security, one in which they do not fear that their jobs will be in jeopardy if their performance is not perfect and one in which layoffs are considered an extreme last resort, not just another option for dealing with hard times.

Memorial Day – Honor. Remember. Never Forget.

Each year on Memorial Day Americans pause to remember the fallen and honor their sacrifice. For Memorial Day the one thing that matters most is sacrifice.

Memorial Day originally began as a day of remembrance for soldiers who had died fighting in the Civil War, and over time the day has grown to honor all American military personnel who have died fighting to protect this country. It was made a federal holiday in 1971, along with designating the last Monday of May as the official date each year.

Several years ago, on the eve of the Fourth of July, I came across a commentary by David Harmer, chief executive of Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge, that offered perfect clarity on the meaning of our annual national tribute. He wrote:

“Few of us have earned the freedom we enjoy; we’ve received them by bequest as gifts of grace. The freedoms we celebrate on Independence Day were made possible by the sacrifices we commemorate on Memorial Day. To the valiant few, we owe an incalculable debt.”

I don’t really have much to add, honestly. I’ve never served in the military, and have never been placed in a situation that could call on me to perform the ultimate sacrifice in service to my country. I’m just a simple blogger on a site dedicated to Lean thinking. Anything I tried to tell you regarding the military and what they go through would ring hollow.

The best I can do in times like this is to simply say thank you. Thank you to the men and women of our armed forces for your service, your bravery, your commitment to protecting the freedoms and ideals of this country. And let us always remember the men and women of our armed forces who have fallen in battle, and remember their sacrifice.