How To Inspire & Motivate Your Team

Realising the importance of creating a good team is one of the most significant factors of running a business. You are only as good as the people that you have around you and so it is imperative that you invest your time in helping develop and cultivate the individual members of your team. Working on your own personal goals alone, will not be enough to be a great leader and so you must be aware of the needs of those around you. From having worked as part of a team, to guiding and being a leader, I have learned some important factors along the way;

Be A Good Listener

One of the most important aspects of being a good leader and boss is the ability to listen to those around you in order to understand the dynamic of the team and what makes them ‘tick’. Each individual will have different strengths and will work in unique ways and it is about listening to the group as a collective, in order to utilise their strengths and make the most for every individual. Creating a good balance within a team allows people to work in the best way and, in turn, you are able to get the best work from them. Do not underestimate the importance of being a good listener, making informed decisions based on what you have heard and seen, you will be impressed with the positive impact that this has on the team as a whole.

Appreciate Hard Work

Making people feel respected and appreciated is an extremely important aspect of leading a team. An individual’s sense of value has a direct impact on the efficiency and quality of the work they do, as if they feel it is of importance to the business, they will want to strive to achieve the best they can and, in turn, produce a high quality of work. This will encourage those around them to do the same and so the overall productivity and motivation of the team will increase, all from you taking a little time to show the team members that you care and appreciate their hard work.

Give Feedback

As humans, we relish the opportunity to be given feedback on our performance in order to alter and amend our methods to continually improve our performance. By taking some time to evaluate the team members performance and give feedback, whether this be constructive criticism (try to be clever with how you deliver this!), or making sure that praise is given when deserved. It is very common that mistakes or errors are highlighted within teamwork, when in fact the positive achievements should also be highlighted, more often that not to create a level of satisfaction that will go on to inspire and motivate the individuals and team as a whole.

Create A Positive Environment

Happiness is infectious. Create a happy, positive workplace and your team members will be instinctively more positive and keen to work away with the tasks at hand. There is no doubt that having a workplace that people look forward to being a part of on a daily basis creates a sense of belonging and enjoyment that comes as a natural result of the environment. It goes without saying that hard work pays off, and so this must not suffer at the hand of enjoyment, however, taking breaks, creating some fun and just generally letting your team let their hair down every so often, will dramatically increase the productivity levels of their work and overall life and job satisfaction.

Support Self Development

There is nothing better than working for a business where you know there is room to grow and develop, on a professional as well as personal level. Having the opportunity to expand your skill set and progress within a company, helps to motivate individuals who will then work harder to strive and achieve the goals and targets you set out. By supporting an individual’s self development, not only will the person in question thrive in the working environment, but the team as a whole will become stronger, more productive and a sense of achievement and satisfaction will be maintained.

Create Structure, But Don’t Micromanage

It is imperative as a leader to set clearly defined goals of what need to be reached for individuals, as well as the team and business as a whole in order to create structure and lay guidelines for those working within the company. This is important to set the guidelines, however, you must not become a micromanager and spend your time second guessing and questioning every decision or action each person in your team makes. To do this, you must make sure that the people you hire, you are able to trust as this will ensure that you are able to give them the space to make decisions of their own.

Becoming a good boss requires more than just setting goals and being a good leader. You must motivate and inspire each individual by giving them the time and feedback they need in order to feel a sense of value within the company. This, in turn, will make the team stronger as a whole, increasing the efficiency and productivity of your workforce and ultimately, your business. You’re only as good as your team.