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Greetings!
Welcome to Issue 3 of Simple Solutions for Busy Managers.
The secret to successful leadership and management is understanding what motivates you and your team. It's not a constant - what holds true today may change tomorrow. Want to know 10 budget friendly ways to motivate you and your team? Read on.....
I hope you find great ideas to put into practice today.
Best Wishes,
Sharon Leighton |
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Pushing the right button
Some of you are probably having those difficult conversations about pay rises and bonuses. You're probably challenged with giving bad news and dealing with high expectations.
Well, the good news is that money is not the prime motivator for all of us. It's still important but the impact of a good salary rise or bonus lasts for a week or so. So what really pushes the buttons for people at work or in life? |
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What's your motivation?
The happiest, most motivated & productive people are those who are fulfilled in their life (& thus job). They continue to build upon their skills and are recognised for their progress. Sounds just what business needs today. If you're not sure what is your main motivator, ask yourself 2 questions.
~ What energises you and frustrates you if it's missing?
~ Is it built into your work and life?
Knowing what motivates our teams and ourselves can make the difference between success and failure. When the going gets tough, during company changes or project problems, the skillful leader knows how to caryy on motivating and encouraging their team to overcome challenges and focus on benefits.
It's always enlightening to ask your team or your project team if they are using their full skills and capabilities in their job right now. Most people don't! As a leader, how can you change that balance?.
So let's look at 10 ways you can motivate your team and yourself. |
10 Tips on Motivating Others
1. Gift of time. If it's important for a team member to have a regular schedule & they consistently do a great job, can you reward them with a gift of time, like leaving early one day or working from home. Time with their family can be more important than salary for parents with young children or carers with sick relatives.
2. Lifetime learning. Training budget at an all time low? Doing a training course is not the only way to learn. Will a project assignment achieve the same goal? Could a team member do some research for you (e.g. find a better way to measure our customer satisfaction). Can you delegate more (see Newsletter Issue 2 at www.sharonleighton.co.uk/news )
3. Buddies. If your team are highly social (and med info people usually are!), can they buddy up and work in pairs? Examples might be peer review of standard letters or quality assurance checks. It rewards & encourages expertise.
4. Set a team challenge.
I bet you have stretch targets in your 2008 objectives. Or maybe there's a backlog that needs completing. Challenge the team (and you!) to beat that target. How about a team lunch, a social occasion like bowling or special training day as reward.
5. Visibility. You could promote the career of a rising star in your team by giving them greater visibility in your organisation or with key customers.
6. Customer feedback. We can lose sight of the impact of our services when we are so busy and the calls or emails are flooding in. Getting good feedback has a halo effect - it makes us "glow". No time for a formal customer survey? Could your team devise a way to get immediate feedback over the phone and collate the findings? If it's good, celebrate. If there are issues, well look back at number 4, Team challenge.
7. Feeling valued. Do you and your team feel valued by your customers and your company? Do you look for ways to collect data & promote your value?
8. Feedback. Creating a culture where specific, actionable feedback is regularly given and received makes a huge difference to individual performance and attitude. Do you know how to give feedback that makes a difference?
9. Say thank you.
It costs nothing and means a lot. Do you thank your team for their individual efforts? Sincerity is the key! If you don't mean it, don't say it.
So what about number 10? It's something that I see in every medical information or pharmacovigilance office around the world: chocolate! I swear teams are fuelled by it. Bring in chocolate, doughnuts or even fruit today. It's guarenteed to bring a smile to everyone's face. | |
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Sharon Leighton
When I left the corporate world to set up my own consultancy business, I finally had the time & energy to reflect on what I learnt from experience. Those things that the books and courses just don't tell you about.
As a senior manager, I loved to encourage my management team to build on the great bits & move on from those "oops" moments.
Now's your chance.
You can benefit from a potent mix of common sense, knowledge and experience.
"One thing life taught me: if you are interested, you never have to look for new interests. They come to you."
Eleanor Rossevelt
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