8 Ways I motivate my teamfeatured

I am stating the obvious – motivated employees or in my case, subcontractors are more productive and happy. I understand that there is only so much intrinsic motivation you can generate on a day-to-day. So everyone needs their boss to help them maintain the momentum. Here are 8 things that I do to help them stay motivated:

Give them lots and lots of Food
I work mostly with male subcontractors. I can’t speak for all male subcontractors but the ones I hire definitely love food. They will eat anything I bring with extreme excitement. I noticed that Krispy Kreme seems to be on top of the leaderboard so far. It might not be not much, but make sure your team is well fed.

Honest Communication with Everyone
You can’t learn about ideas, attitude or concerns of your team members without constant communication. I use each opportunity to interact with them and discover hundreds of new ways of communicating with them more effectively. When there is a deadline, I make sure everyone is aware of it and that we need to do whatever it takes to hit it. The clear direction helps them perform more efficiently.

Make People Feel Appreciated
One of the greatest needs of each person is the need of being appreciated. Very often appreciation is a greater reward than money. I try really hard to show my sincere gratitude for the unique contribution everyone makes to the organization. I want to be the first person to praise them for doing a great job.

Empower Each Individual
Very often people need just a little encouragement to believe in themselves and to realize that they have a greater potential within. Always show your confidence in the unique abilities and potential of your team members. I will occasionally ask them what would you do in this particular situation.

Give as Much Support as I Can
People always need guidance even if they are self-disciplined enough to find solutions to various problems on their own. I have learned that I need to support them as much as I can and they will be inspired to do the same for the organization and I. I am constantly checking to make sure they understand the tasks and goals at hand.

Manage Each One Individually
Every person has their strengths and weaknesses. Someone may be amazing at one thing, while the other one has another skill set that you admire. Give people a chance to operate in the frames of their strengths and they will be more confident and motivated in their activities. I strongly believe as a leader, it’s my goal to recognize those talents as well.

Be respectful
Fancy internal awards and recognition is great and some employees feed off that, but I have noticed that my team performs much better now that they have my respect. I talk to them all one-on-one basis and will listen to their thoughts and opinions. They understand that they matter and I can trust them to do their jobs effectively. I am a true believer in give as much as respect as someone allows.

Pay them!
It’s an industry standard to pay subcontractors once the project is done. I rather ease the stress and not mess with people’s money. I pay everyone weekly. It’s definitely a burden lifted off your shoulders when you know exactly when you are getting paid. I know they appreciate having one less thing off their plate.