The Only Way to Find Your Team’s Motivation

Are you setting people up for success or failure? One way to know this is by asking yourself, “Do I know if and how my team is motivated?” If your answer is “no,” then it’s time to get more personal with them. If you don’t know how people tick, then it’s almost impossible to act as a team.

I can only remember one boss of mine ever taking the time to find out what motivated me to work harder, and what motivated me to produce better work. For some people it is money that motivates them, and for others it may be recognition that motivates them, but for some people like me, it is a factor of how many people will be impacted that ultimately motivates.

I used to only be motivated by money, but once I saw how fruitless that pursuit was, I was done with chasing money. Now I am more interested and how many people will walk away with their lives changed from what I do. Tell me up front how many people will feel the effects of my work and I will give it my all. Anyway, the only way to find out what it is that motivates your team is to have interaction with each individual through one-on-one conversations. Once you find out their motivators, you can then begin putting incentives in place to help motivate them. You’re probably thinking that if people are getting paid then they should just do their job, but the truth is that incentives bring motivation, which entices people to produce their very best work.

Motivation is the way that people produce their best work, and when you recognize this, your team will function with more productivity than ever before.