Banning working from home…

Many large corporations are moving away from the ‘working from home’ concept, with companies like Yahoo banning it altogether.  Unfortunately many employyes will leave their positions in reaction to these new policies.  A one-size-fits-all approach to working hours and conditions is likely to backfire.

Knowing how to motivate your team is vital if you are in pursuit of the greatest productivity.  Dynamic, forward-thinking organisations recognise the value of offering flexible working practices.  They reap the rewards from highly engaged staff who feel motivated and perform their roles to the best of their abilities.  This also lowers staff turnover and thus recruitment and training costs.

Others don’t give the flexibility they could, probably due to poor leadership and management practices and lack of trust.  This leads to some staff feeling de-motivated and under-performing.  Or they might even leave.

However, the ones who will leave first are likely to be some of your best people.  They are confident, competent and are likely to be sought after by your competitors.

The key thing is that some individuals love flexibility, others love being in the office and some like a mixture of both.  So your flexible working policy needs to incorporate the needs of each individual, and what makes them tick.

And your leaders need to be able to get the best from every individual, wherever they work.

Do you understand what makes your people tick, so you can make the most of flexible working in your team?

Understanding motivators helps staff out of a rut

We all know that there’s a strong correlation between motivation and performance.  Recently a leader I was coaching had identified issues with a member of their team, and was trying to find them a role within the organisation that they would enjoy.

The employee had probably been in role for a couple of years longer than was healthy, so by now was very demotivated – the results being variable performance, and consistent mistakes.

The root of the problem was identified when we looked at their motivation profile.  They loved doing new things and solving customer problems, but their role just didn’t lend itself to this.  We discussed the risk of them leaving, but they insisted they wanted to stay at the company, in a different role.

New and exciting roles don’t come along every day, so the action plan here was to really focus on getting the mundane things completed quickly and accurately, to free up time to work on more creative areas.  As well as fulfilling the need for innovation, this approach is far more likely to lead to a new role, as the employee will be getting noticed for the right reasons.

So if you think you can’t get your staff out of a rut, think again.

Take Note?

You might not think that your note-taking affects your performance – it does!

You might not think that your motivators affect your note-taking choices – they do!

Some of the leaders I work with can sit through a whole meeting and not take any notes at all.  In general they are the ones who don’t complete their actions.  So when I am coaching executives they will, at least, note down their actions.

On the other hand, some leaders take notes like they are going out of fashion.  The chances are they have missed something important in that meeting, because they were writing when they should have be listening.  Couple that with the additional time of writing them up or just trying to find the key points and it certainly has an impact.

What does this have to do with your motivators?  Well, some of us have ‘perfectionist’ tendencies, driven by our need for quality and demonstrating our knowledge.  We take notes so that we don’t miss anything – strange, because that’s exactly the probable outcome.  Whereas others are driven by freedom and entrepreneurialism, where note-taking is a job for someone else – with a similar result.

So what can you do to combat your motivators?  And where is the balance between no notes and reams of notes?

– understand the purpose of your notes

If you have to write them up verbatim, either record the meeting or get someone who is not involved in the meeting to take notes.  If they are only for you (to make sure you remember the key points and your actions), just note those down.

– are you really listening?

Whether you take lots of notes or no notes at all, the key thing in meetings is to listen – ACTIVELY.  That means engaging in the discussions to develop your, and others, thoughts and ideas.

– experiment

* draw up an agenda for the meeting, preferably using a mind map with just the key words on it
* actively listen during the meeting, but take NO notes (just try it)
* immediately after the meeting, add the key points and actions to the mind map
* observe the results

Do let me know how you get on.

Understanding motivators helps leaders to be more effective

Recently, a clear understanding of what motivates a leader helped to drive a simple, effective action plan.

Flat Profile

A flat motivation profile is one where the leader is motivated by most things, pretty much evenly.  They tend to be adaptable and make good general managers.  However, because they enjoy most activities, their challenge is to avoid being distracted.

In a previous coaching session, one such leader answered their phone while we were discussing this feedback!  Not surprisingly, their action plan contained a challenge to reduce their interruptions, in particular not to answer the phone in meetings.  They were asked to observe what happened.

The leader was delighted to tell me they had been able to concentrate on key tasks and deliver quality work much faster.  Brilliant!

Such a simple change, but a real challenge for those people who think they must respond to everyone immediately.  Even harder for those who enjoy the distraction.  But when you see immediate results from a change you are much more likely to stick with it.

Why don’t you try it and let me know the impact it has for you?

 

How Motivation Drives Performance – Builder Profile

So we’ve seen how Directors, those who seek control, can maintain and increase their motivation levels.  Now let’s take a look at the Builder.

If you have Builder as one of your top motivators, you are motivated by money and material things.  You like a high standard of living and you tend to compare yourself with what others have, and want more.  You will regularly review your financial investments, and are likely to have multiple income streams.

Fire Your Grumpy Staff?

I read a great article recently with the above title.   The essence of the message was “I can’t for the life of me see how great customer service can be delivered by staff who hate – or don’t enjoy – their jobs. Great service experiences are always a result of someone who is engaged and sees the problem through the customer’s eyes.”

Couldn’t agree more.  However, you don’t need to fire all of them.  A Motivation Review of the team would soon establish if you had the right people in the right roles to deliver excellent customer service.  More importantly it gives leaders the opportunity to engage with staff at a different, emotional, level – to identify the reasons behind any grumpiness.

A small change in a leader’s reward strategy to each individual will then make a big difference to employee motivation – and customer service.

How Motivation Drives Performance – Director Profile

So we’ve seen how Experts, those who seek mastery, can maintain and increase their motivation levels.  Now let’s take a look at the Director.

If you have Director as one of your top motivators, you want to be able to influence the way things happen, especially having control of people and resources.  This includes making critical decisions about how these are used, and tends towards management roles.  You are self-confident and provide clarity for others.  Consequently you like clarity from others, which means clear objectives and strategy from above.

How Motivation Drives Performance – Expert Profile

So we’ve seen how Friends, those who seek belonging, can maintain and increase their motivation levels. Now let’s take a look at the Expert.

If you have Expert as one of your top motivators, you seek mastery of a subject, and you like to pass that knowledge on to others.  You actively seek opportunities to demonstrate expertise in the specialised fields in which you operate.   Training opportunities are highly motivating for you, though a course is not always necessary, as you enjoy self-development too.

In It For Fun, Not Money

Before you read this I have to admit to being a Branson fan.  I found Sir Richard’s blog on fun-not-money very interesting and very relevant to the work I do around what motivates individuals and teams, and how that can drive success.

I disagree that most people start businesses because they “feel that they can create something that is going to make a difference to other people’s lives”.  I think people start businesses for all sorts of reasons.  However I strongly agree that people who DO start a business for this reason are most likely to be successful, as they will put customers first.

So perhaps this gives us an insight into the motivators that will make the most successful entrepreneurs?  Making a difference is the Searcher motivator.  Add some Spirit (autonomy) and Creator (innovation) and that could be the recipe for success!

Let me know if you’d like to find out what motivates you.

How Motivation Drives Performance – Friend Profile

So we’ve seen how Defenders, those who are driven by security, can maintain and increase their motivation levels.  Now let’s take a look at the Friend.

If you have Friend as one of your top motivators, you need to belong to a community – an organisation, a team, a group, etc – with which you share values.  You enjoy building relationships with other people at work and you tend to work more collaboratively.  You may not like a job, but will stick around if you like the people.  You don’t like conflict and will avoid cold-calling at all costs!