The Top 10 Ways to Create Motivation at Work

Creating and facilitating a workplace that supports motivation results in higher personal and group productivity. It also enhances satisfaction and quality of work life. Managing motivation and creating a fun place to work shouldn't be neglected.

1. Take responsibility for personal motivation through self-discipline and positive thinking.

You need to take responsibility for yourself and set a tone. Having mission, vision and regular daily objectives creates an emphasis on productivity. Choosing a positive outlook is contagious. Being an optimistic thinker helps you and those around. Enjoy the tasks of the day. Look forward to them.

2. Communicate affirmative spirit and energy.

Motivation is a continuous dynamic with espirit and energy. Espirit is composed of morale, positive expectations, excitement, enthusiasm and passion. It's attitude in action. Demeanor, performance and words tell the team about your feelings regarding work. Energy is physical, mental and emotional. It empowers and enables achievement. Energy supports high activity levels.

3. Care, understand and empathize with team members (develop positive regard and expectations of success).

People really don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. Recognizing that the team is composed of people, and treating them each as special individuals who have value goes a long way. Appreciation is shown in small, subtle ways, but is critical. Know the team, believe in them and watch the results.

4. Make a point to listen (verbally and non-verbally) to both facts and feelings.

Attending to people shows them that they are important. Giving your attention is giving yourself. An open door to hear professional and personal concerns fosters communications at all levels. Often, people simply need to feel heard and valued.

5. Identify important desires and needs.

While people are generally similar, we all have personal priorities in our desires and needs. These wants and needs are inconsistent. People and situations change. To a twenty-year old, just beginning at work, a retirement plan is much less important than to an older counterpart. While no organization can be expected to answer all of life's issues, when rewards are given, they should be significant.

6. Develop efficient feedback and critique.

What counts and to what degree? Performance is enhanced when people know what they're doing well and where they can improve. Feedback should be timely, accurate, and comprehensive. While the negative is important, the positive must be included too. Good feedback provides useful linkages between performance and consequences. Team members should know where and how they can improve.

7. Manage intrinsic, extrinsic and group incentives.

Intrinsic rewards come from within. They're the good feelings that come from accomplishing something. While the team member does create these, the proper words and recognition facilitate them. Value of performance, customer satisfaction, recognition, achievement and the like need to be communicated. External incentives should not be neglected. Security, money, the bread and butter issues of every day can not be under-estimated. Lastly, people are part of groups. The team supports or hinders motivation. Social needs are consequential. Managing rewards entails applying them in appropriate combinations, at the right time, and in the proper way.

8. Create and maintain a workplace that supports motivation.

Physical factors contribute to performance. Content of tasks requires that the work be meaningful and significant. The workplace produces the performance context. Resources, layout, and tools need to be readily available. Cheery, happy places support better quality in work life. Distractions are to be minimized. Team members should be optimistic, positive about performance and upbeat.

9. Consciously minimize de-motivators.

Factors undermining motivation should be minimized. Those factors that motivate, when lacking or wrongly used, generate boredom, confusion and/or disappointment. Atmospheres of fear and pessimism discourage performance. Conscientious efforts limit and/or eliminate these performance impediments.

10. Establish definite linkages between performance and positive reinforcement (rewards).

Too often, motivation becomes a neglected variable. Performance reviews are postponed. Incentives are delayed. This weakens the linkages. The significance of establishing clear understandings between performance and consequences cannot be understated. Expectations govern the exchange. They need to be managed as part of the motivational process.

This piece was originally submitted by Robert G. Jerus, MBA, APC, MA, Certificate in Learning Technologies, PhD Candidate; Publication of book , Consultant & Counselor, who can be reached at RGJerus@earthlink.net. Robert G. Jerus wants you to know: Professor of business administration; focused on qualities of personal success.