Motivating Others

MOTIVATING OTHERS

Do you have a person in your staff who is not performing as well as he/she should? Try these motivation tips. You can work miracles with even mediocre persons that are well motivated.

FEEDBACK IS THE BEST MOTIVATOR Feedback on results, especially positive feedback, is the best way to motivate your people. If you only give feedback to your people when they do something wrong, very soon they will do as little as possible. They will either vegetate in the company or leave it. If you tell the person how well he/she did something, right after it happened, you’ll be increasing his/her motivation more than if you did anything else.

PRAISE OFTEN Praise people often, as soon as they do something right. Praise them when they exceed standards and even when they consistently meet standards. The most common mistake managers make is to fail to praise. Catch your people doing something right and praise them. Don’t take their good performance for granted. You must motivate them to keep it up. Don’t hold back your praise. Whenever you see somebody doing something right, make sure you praise that person. Make it a point. Don’t let it go without mentioning I to the person or you’ll be wasting a valuable opportunity to boost the person’s morale’s and motivation.

MONEY ISN´T EVERYTHING Money is important. But regardless of how much we ear, we like more in a job than just money. Most of us like to know that we’re doing something useful and worthwhile – that our work is of real value to somebody. Mush as we need money, we also like to feel we are contributing something o the human race. We like to be recognized and appreciated.

THREE FUNDAMENTALS How do good employees think and feel?
1.They are interested in their work and think it’s important.
2.They think of themselves as individuals who are making a real contribution – not as tools being used by someone else.
3.They take price in themselves and their work.

GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR PEOPLE´S IDEAS When an employee offers you a suggestion, you may consider the following:
Develop and refine – often the idea will be half-baked. Help the person develop the idea so it is usable.
Prepare - few ideas can be put to work immediately. Be sure you get all the information and equipment needed to implement it.
Arrange for a trial – test out the idea with others and yourself. Listen to all opinions.
Evaluate Thoroughly – if it passes a limited test, it doesn’t mean it will pass the full production test. Prove that it will work first.
Reward the person- one way to assure a continuing flow of ideas is to reward those you get. Praise the person. Tell others about his/her accomplishments and its benefits.

LET PEOPLE PARTICIPATE People support what they help create. People affected by a change must be allowed to plan and implement the change.

THINK RIGHT TOWARD PEOPLE If you want people to accept you, you must think right toward people. One of the key factors considered in promoting a person, is what others think of him. If there are any negative or lukewarm feeling about how he gets along with others, the promotion should be postponed or looked at more closely. This doesn’t mean you should necessarily be buddies with everybody. It means to be accepted and respected by others. There is a difference.

STIMULATE THE CREATIVITY OF YOUR PEOPLE Follow these steps :
Pinpoint the problems – make the problems specific c. Break the problems into details.
Personalize the problems – talk about the problem in practical and immediate terms. Let everybody know about it. Somebody taking a fresh look at it may come up with a solution.
Suggest a line of attack – make sure your people understand the problem and the procedures. Put your finger in the exact trouble spots. If you have any ideas, offer them.
Keep in touch – check your people’s progress. Help them if they are stuck, encourage them.
Give it time – Some ideas need time. Don’t hurry them up unnecessarily

AVOID MYSTERIES Tell your people, as plainly as you can, what you want them to do.

TRUE MANAGEMENT MEANS ALLOWINT THE STAFF TO BE THE “HEROES” One can usually identify managers who are not people-oriented by their image as the only in the areas able to get things done. They may indeed be superstars, but if they retain their crowns at the expense of their employees, they should be given another assignment.