How to Keep Your Team Motivated and Engaged
2 June 2011
Read by 2441 persons
Because team cohesion is never fully guaranteed, managers must anticipate problems and not react after the fact. Helping your employees doesn't mean doing their work for them, which risks making them dependent.
Mohamed B., head of a temp agency, will always remember his first major mishap. At the time, his first client was a subsidiary of a multinational corporation. One day, without warning, the parent company decided to transfer a large part of its operations to another site in Asia. This was a major blow to the CEO of the temp agency, who had to revise his objectives downwards. Although his company didn't collapse, it was a setback, and he had to work hard to remotivate his team by refocusing them on new projects. "The hardest part was that the employees no longer believed in our ability to recover. Rumors flew about the company closing, being taken over by another group... I had to organize a team-building exercise to clarify the group's new vision. Then they finally understood," explains the CEO of this agency.
Youssef Jermoumi, CEO of IP Expert, also experienced a similar mishap when his team could no longer keep up the pace. "The problem was organizational. We ended up with poorly managed projects. Wasted time, wasted money, these problems later impacted relations between employees. Even though we were able to recover, there were repercussions," he says.
In the world of work, such situations are not isolated, and no one is immune. It happens that a manager, one of his employees, or even an entire team loses all desire to work. When you add to all the possible nuisances inherent in life the risks of destabilization caused by the perpetual change in the company's environment (new strategies in sight, reorganization or restructuring in prospect, ever-increasing profitability constraints), it's difficult to identify the true causes.
However, it is clear that without motivation, there can be no performance.
What can cause a team to stop progressing or lose the desire to do so? According to Nawal Jai, senior consultant at LMS ORH, "Discomfort is a natural phenomenon that is part of a company's life and has various origins: lack of a shared vision, insufficient clarification of roles, inappropriate communication, hierarchy strategy... Discomfort becomes serious when it spreads, when it is structural, and when it causes discomfort that affects employees and reduces their commitment," she explains.
As often happens, interpersonal relationships bring their share of tension in a group dynamic. As Amina K., HR manager in a large company, testifies: "I don't adapt easily to women in business. Personally, I avoid as much as possible any friendship or relationship at work with my female colleagues. I find that relationships between them are fake. A group of women, it's well known. They talk all the time about clothes and beauty products, relationship disappointments... That's not all. Pettiness, jealousy, underhandedness, hypocrisy—these are areas in which they excel. I don't need to get involved in their machinations." It's not only women who live in such an atmosphere. And in a company, there is never a shortage of relational problems.
In these conditions, it is difficult to get the most out of a team. Many managers are aware of this, but few find a solution. For the most part, they try to wait it out, relying on the passage of time. A dangerous way forward, especially since ever-higher objectives, the race for productivity, and the constant threat of restructuring, to name only these aspects, only exacerbate tensions.
Obviously, employees or collaborators are not always blameless. But "it is the managers who must question themselves and change their way of considering their employees; they must involve them when necessary," emphasizes Jamal Krim, CEO of Reco Act. The big question is how to maintain momentum and mobilization in the long term and, above all, how to detect the motivation style specific to each team member and avoid personal conflicts?
First of all, it is necessary to know how each team member functions. "Are they dependent, constantly needing reassurance and advice, or autonomous, requiring a minimum leeway and a reduction in hierarchical constraints?" asks Mr. Jermoumi.
Once this classification has been made, it is necessary to act, and above all, constantly. "Because team cohesion is never fully acquired, the manager must fully assume his role as leader, catalyst, and facilitator," he continues. It is also important to know that it is dangerous to wait until morale is at its lowest to intervene. In short, remotivation should not be part of a leader's vocabulary. Unless he inherits a non-operational team. In practice, motivation is a daily task. The best way to avoid the worst is to anticipate through constant listening and exchanges with employees, as Kamal Bennani, an architect, testifies. "I need to be motivated as much as they do. To do this, I try to be as available as possible to their concerns and expectations." Of course, being available doesn't mean spending your time listening to employees' personal grievances—there is certainly a time for that—but you must primarily focus on solving their work problems, helping them get closer to a goal... without falling into the common trap of...doing their work for them to give them a helping hand. In this way, you only get dependents. Availability is certainly an asset, but team management is even more than that.
Friction sometimes stimulates performance
The credibility and integrity of the manager are qualities that should be maintained. "Good conduct sometimes involves remaining impartial in decision-making. This avoids bad behaviors such as jealousy," advises Nawal Jai. Another approach is to ask yourself what you would be sensitive to if you were in the other person's place. And you will always find in the answers you will give two key notions: respect for others and setting a good example.
It is also necessary to show your appreciation and fairly recognize the performances of each other, without bias and without forgetting the rewards. "It is necessary to make an impression when you achieve an exceptional performance. This is always useful for boosting and maintaining morale," stresses Youssef Jermoumi.
In addition, it is well known that friction within a team is inevitable. Unless it degenerates, it is useful for the advancement of projects if the team knows how to manage it.
Published June 1, 2011
Posted online June 2, 2011
Lavieeco.com
Mohamed B., head of a temp agency, will always remember his first major mishap. At the time, his first client was a subsidiary of a multinational corporation. One day, without warning, the parent company decided to transfer a large part of its operations to another site in Asia. This was a major blow to the CEO of the temp agency, who had to revise his objectives downwards. Although his company didn't collapse, it was a setback, and he had to work hard to remotivate his team by refocusing them on new projects. "The hardest part was that the employees no longer believed in our ability to recover. Rumors flew about the company closing, being taken over by another group... I had to organize a team-building exercise to clarify the group's new vision. Then they finally understood," explains the CEO of this agency.
Youssef Jermoumi, CEO of IP Expert, also experienced a similar mishap when his team could no longer keep up the pace. "The problem was organizational. We ended up with poorly managed projects. Wasted time, wasted money, these problems later impacted relations between employees. Even though we were able to recover, there were repercussions," he says.
In the world of work, such situations are not isolated, and no one is immune. It happens that a manager, one of his employees, or even an entire team loses all desire to work. When you add to all the possible nuisances inherent in life the risks of destabilization caused by the perpetual change in the company's environment (new strategies in sight, reorganization or restructuring in prospect, ever-increasing profitability constraints), it's difficult to identify the true causes.
However, it is clear that without motivation, there can be no performance.
What can cause a team to stop progressing or lose the desire to do so? According to Nawal Jai, senior consultant at LMS ORH, "Discomfort is a natural phenomenon that is part of a company's life and has various origins: lack of a shared vision, insufficient clarification of roles, inappropriate communication, hierarchy strategy... Discomfort becomes serious when it spreads, when it is structural, and when it causes discomfort that affects employees and reduces their commitment," she explains.
As often happens, interpersonal relationships bring their share of tension in a group dynamic. As Amina K., HR manager in a large company, testifies: "I don't adapt easily to women in business. Personally, I avoid as much as possible any friendship or relationship at work with my female colleagues. I find that relationships between them are fake. A group of women, it's well known. They talk all the time about clothes and beauty products, relationship disappointments... That's not all. Pettiness, jealousy, underhandedness, hypocrisy—these are areas in which they excel. I don't need to get involved in their machinations." It's not only women who live in such an atmosphere. And in a company, there is never a shortage of relational problems.
In these conditions, it is difficult to get the most out of a team. Many managers are aware of this, but few find a solution. For the most part, they try to wait it out, relying on the passage of time. A dangerous way forward, especially since ever-higher objectives, the race for productivity, and the constant threat of restructuring, to name only these aspects, only exacerbate tensions.
Obviously, employees or collaborators are not always blameless. But "it is the managers who must question themselves and change their way of considering their employees; they must involve them when necessary," emphasizes Jamal Krim, CEO of Reco Act. The big question is how to maintain momentum and mobilization in the long term and, above all, how to detect the motivation style specific to each team member and avoid personal conflicts?
First of all, it is necessary to know how each team member functions. "Are they dependent, constantly needing reassurance and advice, or autonomous, requiring a minimum leeway and a reduction in hierarchical constraints?" asks Mr. Jermoumi.
Once this classification has been made, it is necessary to act, and above all, constantly. "Because team cohesion is never fully acquired, the manager must fully assume his role as leader, catalyst, and facilitator," he continues. It is also important to know that it is dangerous to wait until morale is at its lowest to intervene. In short, remotivation should not be part of a leader's vocabulary. Unless he inherits a non-operational team. In practice, motivation is a daily task. The best way to avoid the worst is to anticipate through constant listening and exchanges with employees, as Kamal Bennani, an architect, testifies. "I need to be motivated as much as they do. To do this, I try to be as available as possible to their concerns and expectations." Of course, being available doesn't mean spending your time listening to employees' personal grievances—there is certainly a time for that—but you must primarily focus on solving their work problems, helping them get closer to a goal... without falling into the common trap of...doing their work for them to give them a helping hand. In this way, you only get dependents. Availability is certainly an asset, but team management is even more than that.
Friction sometimes stimulates performance
The credibility and integrity of the manager are qualities that should be maintained. "Good conduct sometimes involves remaining impartial in decision-making. This avoids bad behaviors such as jealousy," advises Nawal Jai. Another approach is to ask yourself what you would be sensitive to if you were in the other person's place. And you will always find in the answers you will give two key notions: respect for others and setting a good example.
It is also necessary to show your appreciation and fairly recognize the performances of each other, without bias and without forgetting the rewards. "It is necessary to make an impression when you achieve an exceptional performance. This is always useful for boosting and maintaining morale," stresses Youssef Jermoumi.
In addition, it is well known that friction within a team is inevitable. Unless it degenerates, it is useful for the advancement of projects if the team knows how to manage it.
Published June 1, 2011
Posted online June 2, 2011
Lavieeco.com
