Three High Value Motivation Techniques
Some would argue that it takes years to build a great team spirit. I respectfully disagree.
Here are three quick motivational tips to try out on your team. Let me know in the comments what you think.
1. Bring motivational speakers into your team meetings
Effectiveness Value: EXTRA HIGH
I am sure many of you will have had the privilege of watching and listening to a motivational speaker, either at a company town hall, through personal investment, or at one of your team meetings. These speeches can take two forms:
The Big Ticket
The Big Ticket speaker is a sports star, business guru, or celebrity. They are usually hired for illustrious annual events with large audiences such as town halls or award ceremonies. The artful ones can hold their audience in the palm of their hand. They deliver well-honed motivational stories with a clear message and call to action.
Your head honcho or big cheese also falls into the Big Ticket category, especially in a very large organization. When they have the talent to deliver their vision in a highly captivating way magic can happen.
Usually the audience come away from these events completely inspired and ready to take on the world!
The Innovator
Most people feel inspired when they hear about innovative projects happening in their own organization so it’s a smart move to bring people into your team meetings to talk about them. It is seriously worth the effort to line people up to come in because it actually serves a double purpose.
In addition to the motivational factor your team members have the opportunity to ask strategic and pertinent questions of the speaker which will help to make connections. Connections between projects and connections between people, stronger personal networks mean a stronger team network.
2. Watch inspirational videos
Effectiveness Value: HIGH
If done well this can galvanize your team in a very inspirational way. The success factor will depend somewhat on what your team members and their attitude. Trust your judgement and be careful not to be too cheesy otherwise you might see a few eye rolls!
Movie scenes can be fun and are often sport based which transitions well, but my personal favourite is Arnold Schwarzenegger’s USC Commencement Address from way back in 2009.
Arnie gives his six rules of success, the ones he lives by himself and he is living proof that they work. When you’ve finished reading the third technique come back and watch the video below.
3. Use laughter and humour
Effectiveness Value: HIGH
This is one of my personal favourites. It’s more of a slow burn technique which over time will build a relaxed environment where team members feel that they can be themselves.
That feeling of security will lead to open and honest discussions. Quieter team members will feel safe to speak up about important matters when they trust their colleagues.
“I don’t know any jokes”
Using humour does not mean you need to be a stand-up comedian. Far from it. I believe you should stay away from jokes because more often than not they make fun of someone or something and it’s easy to offend even when you have the best of intentions. This will clearly have the exact opposite effect to what you’re looking for.
Tell a story
Anecdotes and humorous observations on the other hand work wonders.
So what if you’re not comfortable telling funny stories? You can still use this method. During group conversation simply ask something like: “Has anyone got any funny stories they can tell?”
Usually someone will pipe up and share a funny story or talk about times when everything seemed to go wrong. Before you know it the group will be laughing. Usually another person will join in and tell their story.
Doing this on a regular basis will be a contributing factor to building a strong team spirit.
We’re just scratching the surface
There are so many more things a people manager can do to build a highly motivated team. We are just scratching the surface here. A balanced approach will always win over too much focus on one particular area.
Give these a go with your team and let me know what you think about these suggested techniques. I would love to hear your stories in the comments below. Thanks for reading.
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