Egyptian Steel E magazine

ESLIFE 1 0 Wa y s t o M o t i va t e Yo u r Te a m How to Deal with Criticism E n h a n c e Yo u r L a n g u a g e S k i l l s Desk Exercises to Stay Fit

10 Simple Ways to Motivate Your Team

manager

4. Focus on their weaknesses. Don't be critical, or unkind, but help them to see how their weaknesses are impacting their role. This must be done and can be painful, but if it is ignored, then they can't grow, and neither can your organization. Take the weakness and teach them how to turn that into a positive, or at least grow from it.

5. Focus on their Strengths. Make this the start and the end of the conversation, and make sure you help them see successes that their strengths have given them. Make a list of all the great things that your employee can do, and get them involved in areas they can do well.

6. Use a 2-1-2 plan. 2 Positives - 1 thing to work on (negative) - 2 more positives. You can use your own idea on this, but through many years of experience, the team member will still focus on the negative, but if you just bombard with negatives, it will never motivate to better performance. It's so important to help keep the positives high, because we humans focus so easily on the negative.

7. Team meetings are not number meetings. In sales, numbers are important to a manager, but the team cares more about their individual goal than the manager's goal. It's a harsh truth, but real.

Have conversations with your team, not just quick lists.

Sometimes you need to just talk with your team. You'll be surprised how much better you can interact with them long term 8. Set a team goal. Not just numbers. Use productivity stats, or some other category that would keep the team motivated, and have some sort of simple reward. Team rewards cause the group to focus on their individual performance, and the company goals.

Keep your team a team, by taking time to impact them.

Use these ideas, and add to them

9. Reward often. This might need to be number one. This doesn't have to be in a compensation plan.

It can be a candy bar, a cup of coffee, a note, an email, a "You're 1#" mug, or any other kind of simple thing, but do it regularly. Say “good job” and your team will be motivated, and you'll impact the culture. Do you want your team excited to come to work with you? By giving little motivations along the way, you will create a team that wants to work for and with you.

10. Share your real feelings. A lot of leaders feel like they can't be open or share themselves with their team. They look at it as weakness, but it's not. It's a time to remind your people that you are a human, just like them. Share some personal stories, some business failures, some life changing moments, and even some challenges in your role.

They will connect with those things and open up to you. It creates relationships, not failures.

manager Simple Ways to Motivate Your Team Encouraging a team is very challenging. You have a variety of team members with multiple different skill-sets, characters and focuses. Each team member needs to be encouraged to see greater success, and, as a leader, it's your responsibility to get them excited about their role. They all need to be directed and helped to see the best success, based on their ability.

Some pointers to keep your team motivated...

1. Encourage individually. Since each one is different, you must take them aside and help them one-on-one. They need you to have some times where all you do is build them up individually - nothing negative at all. Since each one is different, you have to be careful that you're not discouraging in what you do to motivate them. If one team member needs to feel appreciated as a person, do it, if another person just needed to hear that they were making right decisions, tell them so.

2. Encourage as a group. Careful here. Most teams don't want to hear about the top performer all the time, and the top performer doesn't like it either. The team needs to have a target that impacts them all, so they will rally together. Continually building one person up, in a group can really defeat the others on the team. The team needs to hear well from the top, so filter out as much negative as you can and listen to their concerns.

3. Learn your team. Don't put them all in the same category.

Understand their likes and dislikes, and use those to help motivate them forward. Know a bit about their family, their hobbies, etc. That helps you motivate them better. If you know them individually, then you can encourage them individually.

employee

How

to Deal With Criticism

1

What Can I Learn from Criticism?

Most criticism is probably based, at least in part, on some truths. Criticism may appear negative. But, through criticism we have the opportunity to learn and improve from their suggestions.

2

Respond to the suggestions not the tone of the criticism.

3

The problem is that people may make valuable critical suggestions. However, there tone and style of criticism means that we respond not to the suggestions but remember their confrontational manner. In this respect we need to separate the criticism from the style of criticism. Even if people speak in a tone of anger, we should try to detach their emotion from the useful suggestions which lie underneath

Value criticism.

4 5

The problems is that quite often, we only value praise. When people speak kind words we feel happy. When people criticize we feel miserable. However, if we only received insincere praise and false flattery, how would we ever make progress? If we wish to improve and develop we should invite constructive criticism and appreciate their suggestions.

Don’t take it personally.

This is often the biggest problem which occurs with regard to criticism. If your boss criticizes your presentation skills for example, you might get personally offended. But, that is a mistake. Somebody may find good reasons why your presentations skills are bad; but, this does not mean they are criticizing you as a person. When people criticize us directly, we should feel they are not criticizing our real self; but, just an aspect of ourselves.

Ignore False Criticism.

Sometimes we are criticized with no justification. This is a painful experience. But, potentially we can deal with it more easily than criticism which is justified. If we remain silent and detached the criticism is given no energy. If we feel the necessity of fighting it – in a way, we give it more importance than it deserves. By remaining silent we maintain a dignity that others will come to respect.

6

Don’t Respond Immediately It is best to wait a little before responding. If we respond with feelings of anger or injured pride we will soon regret it. If we wait patiently it can enable us to reflect in a calmer way.

7

Smile Smiling, even a false smile, can helps us to relax more. It creates a more positive vibration and soothes the situation. It will definitely help psychologically. Smiling will motivate the other person to moderate their approach.