Team motivation

[calilark]

If you're in a team manager, head of department type tole, talk to me about how you motivate your team and keep them focused on working together as a team! I am struggling at the moment.

We are almost a year on from a workplace review and everyone has been affected by it (myself included). Most people are just getting on with things, and when I talk with people individually, they all agree how important teamwork is and can identify areas that are working well. But when you look at the team overall, that doesn't seem to be reflected.

We definitely struggle from all having been here a long time, working with the same people - the newest person has been here 2 years, and the other end of the scale is roughly 20 years. Apathy and familiarity can be quite hard to work with, especially when there is no budget for additional staffing to provide any kind of capacity to work on new projects which might bring a new and interesting element into every day workload.

Equally, if you are part of a great team, what do you/your manager do to enhance this and keep it going? Team building days and activities do not go down well here!

What do you have in place to recognise when something is being done well? Are your staff targeted?

Can you get a budget for incentivised rewards? You could use this to target areas where the team is working less well- like a floating target. This ensures that it shouldn't be the same person collecting it each month.

I use reward and recognition. I give a bit of time off if someone has done something exceptionally well or been really flexible.

I also come up with quizzes and do them on training days etc with a small prize. Some of my staff are very competitive so it works really well.

I also bake. We work shifts so on night shifts I will bake something or bring in some treats often.

Ultimately being supportive and recognising hard work is good.

Honestly? It's the little things. Recognising it's been a tough week and sending someone home early or making the tea round.

I've also had some success my shifting responsibilities - so person A has been doing job X for 10 years. Now person B will be doing job X so they get to learn something and person A's new responsibility is to teach person B to be good at it. It results in a more robust team, people are more willing to be flexible and turn to each other for help.

How big is your team? Do they have individual jobs or all do the same thing?

Thanks all for the input.

I'm very conscious of keeping tabs on what is happening and letting people know where good work is being done - if not in person, then a quick email fired off to say thanks for XYZ so the recognition is there and they know that it is appreciated.

We have a fortnightly all team meeting which everyone can attend, so there is always a general 'thanks everyone' and highlighting specific things that as a service, we have achieved.

Treats etc - there are regular things being brought into the staff room, although always by the same people. I regularly bake or bring in nice cakes from M&S which I stick in there with a 'happy Wednesday' type note.

Incentivised isn't an option unless it comes out of my own pocket, which I can't do. We are a team of 12, working in higher ed. We run an overall service, but everyone has individual responsibilities, either a sole responsibility or as part of small teams within the bigger team. Ie. 3 people responsible for customer service delivery, 2 people responsible for external communication. But all cogs within the bigger team delivering the whole service.

So I think I recognise and acknowledge work; I think I have the small things covered with bringing in nice bits, stopping and having a chat with someone and asking about a home situation, checking in with people after a difficult weekend. Things that show I appreciate them and the work they do. I make it clear to the team when and how their individual pieces of work and responsibility are contributing and enhancing the overall delivery of our service.

But I still look at the overall team and think that they don't necessarily work well together as one single team - so I guess it is how to bring that about that I am struggling with.

There is underlying resentment following the workplace review, because everyone has taken on additional work - the resentment being aimed at 'the establishment' rather than everyone else. A general sense of dissatisfaction because things are busier and more pressured that they were last year after a shrinking of the team. A lack of motivation perhaps, and feeling hard done by - but we all are! It is how to get the team past this that I am struggling with. I'm finding it hard enough to get myself past it ha!

OP your personal investment in your team is clear from what you've posted.

I don't think you personally need to take on the responsibility for others' motivation. You can create the conducive, supportive environment (which is what you are doing) where people want to come to work, but you can't single handedly 'move' people to a different mindset.

The organisational review was something nobody welcomed or liked, and it's over now, so people will individually need to choose when they will let go of that and move forward. The new person who doesn't have the 20 year service history probably already has.

At the end of the day, we are all at work to earn money to pay bills and meet our obligations, we aren't paid to work miracles. Don't expect too much of yourself. You seem to be taking way more effort that most managers do, take credit for that!