Ten Techniques for Motivating Others through Chaos

Ten Techniques for Motivating Others through Chaos
Copyright © 2004 Ed Sykes. All rights reserved

The work environment has changed. Change has become the norm. Also the truth level of employees has decreased. This can lead to increased dissatisfaction and decreased productivity.

Here are ten techniques for motivating your employees to succeed during chaos:

1. Take Care of the Little Things
   Doing the little things well will show that your respect your employees. Making sure you are on time for meetings, saying “good morning" and “thank-you," and returning phone calls and e-mails in a timely manner goes a long way to showing your employees that you care during chaotic times.

2. Be an Active Listener
   Recent research stated that the average supervisor or manager only invests two hours per year applying “pure listening" skills. Pure listening is when you are listening to your employee you are not:

• Multitasking
• Ordering your lunch
• Watching people walk by your office.
• Answering telephone calls
• Setting up appointments

To be a pure listener you must be an active listener. Good managers do more than pay attention. They genuinely care about people and never talk down to them. They ask their employees about their goals and dreams, their past achievement, their concerns and challenges during this chaotic time. They listen with their hearts and minds. They respect the employee’s thoughts and opinions. They realize that the employees sometimes have the best answer for achieving more through chaos.

3. Walk Your Talk
   If you expect your employees to arrive early, then you arrive early. If you expect your employees to keep their promises, you keep your promises. If you want your employees to keep to high standards, you keep to high standards. Your employees are watching you even when you don’t think they are watching you. So set the tone. Once you walk through the doors of your organization make sure you are positive and upbeat if you expect your employees to be positive and upbeat.

4. Let People Know They Make a Difference
   At the top of many lists of what motivates employees, more than money, is knowing that they make a difference at work. One of the most powerful methods of letting your employees know they make is difference is…praise (Go to article Appreciate to Motivate to learn how). The praise should relate to how the employee helps achieve the overall mission of the organization.

5. Communicate Clearly
   Communicate so that others understand what you want to achieve. Adapt your communication to the audience you are speaking. Constantly communicate your vision and goals so that there are no misunderstandings. The clearer the vision, the clearer the communication, the clearer the opportunity for success.

6. Help Employees Succeed
   People go to work to succeed, not fail. It is your job to understand your employee’s strengths and weaknesses so that you can put them in the best position to succeed. If, for example, you find out that an employee is lacking in a certain skill set to succeed during a change then provide the coaching and training to make them and your organization successful. The best managers minimize or eliminate their employees weaknesses and while building on their strengths. Remove any and all barriers to success.

7. Focus Your Team on the Goal
   Focus your employees on the end result, the overall team goal. Once you successful communicate this your team will band together to defeat any obstacles that get in the way.

8. Create High Standards
   High-performance organizations set high standards for their people. Employees want to know what is expected of them, how their performance is measured, and what rewards they can expect when they exceed the standard. Make sure the standards are consistently applied to each employee. Make sure each employee understands how the standards are measured so that they know how to reach it. As each plateau is reached, set new goals.

9. Help Your Employees Compete and Win
   Develop goals that help all your employees excel. Make your goals inclusive not exclusive. This means that everybody is working together and wins together. Have your employees complete against the goal, not each other.

10. Reward Outstanding Achievement
    Find ways to recognize your achievers in a public way. The more you reward employees for excellent achievement, the more you receive more of the same behavior. Make sure you are consistent with the way you contribute rewards to your employees. Very important, make use you communicate exactly why the employee is being rewarded. And last, reward as soon as possible to the action.

Some of the ways you can show recognition are:

• Idea board
• Initiative Board
• Star Spotlight
• Certificates
• Gift cards
• Say thank-you
• Lunch

Apply these techniques and you will achieve your goals during the most challenging of times.

Ed Sykes is a professional speaker, author, and success coach in the areas of leadership, motivation, stress management, customer service, and team building. You can e-mail him at mailto:esykes@thesykesgrp.com, or call him at (757) 427-7032. Goto his web site, http://www.thesykesgrp.com, and signup for the newsletter, OnPoint, and receive the free ebook, "Empowerment and Stress Secrets for the Busy Professional."