How to: Motivate people

People perform at their best when they feel motivated. Good managers know how to motivate their staff, tailoring their strategies to suit individual needs and styles.

What does this look like?

A manager who motivates well:

can motivate people at all levels and in all situations
takes a personalised approach to getting the best out of others
delegates tasks and empowers people
invites input and shares ownership
makes people feel that their work is important
is someone people enjoy working for and with.

How can I do this?

1. Start by managing well

Let people know that what they do is important.
Say thanks.
Offer help and ask for it.
Give people autonomy.
Provide a variety of tasks.
‘Surprise’ people with enriching and challenging assignments.
Show an interest in peoples’ careers.
Treat mistakes as opportunities to learn.
Celebrate success—let people know how success is measured and when they’ve achieved it.
Give regular feedback and let people know where and how they need to improve.

2. Learn what motivates people

People are motivated in different ways. Get to know your staff and what motivates each one. They could be motivated by:
- challenging jobs
- feeling that they’ve accomplished something worthwhile
- learning something new
- personal development
- autonomy
- pay
- praise
- career progression.
You can learn what motivates people by observing:
- what jobs they do first
- what they talk about
- what they value and prioritise
- what makes them happy.
How people approach tasks can also give clues about what motivates them. For example, do they:
- go to others first?
- read up and study?
- talk about how they feel?
- take action straight away?
Listen to what people say to understand what they value. Do they focus on details, the big picture, concepts, feelings or other people? Learn to motivate people by talking in terms of what’s important to them. For example, you’re unlikely to motivate a big picture thinker by talking in depth about detail.
Respect peoples’ differences. They may not be motivated in the same way you are but try not to judge them or their values.

3. Use goals to motivate

Give people goals that are stretching but realistic.
Involve people in setting goals.
Allow some freedom in how goals are met.

4. Help people understand you

People are motivated to do their best work if they understand you and what you want from them. Talk to people about how you think and why. Let them know what’s important to you.

5. Get to know people personally

People are more likely to work hard for you when they feel as though you value them as a person. Take time to get to know your staff. Ask about their interests, hobbies or family. Find things to talk about other than work. Getting to know people will also help you find the best strategy for motivating them at work.

6. Address poor performance

If your team or a staff member isn’t performing to the required standard, talk to them about it. Ask what’s going on and how you can support them. Remind them what’s expected and let them know specifically what they need to do to improve their performance.

7. Involve people

The more involved people are, the more motivated they tend to be. Where appropriate, ask for:

their opinion about decisions that have to be made
help to appraise the work of the unit
ideas on how to improve the performance of the team.

8. Understand what drives peoples’ behaviour

If you want to change peoples’ behaviour, first try to understand why they do what they do. Try to identify what they think the benefits and consequences of their behaviour are. If you can change those consequences and benefits, you’ll change the behaviour.