Sunday, May 23, 2010

Motivate my team – Why?

I have been thru a few CV’s for an opening and an attribute in all of them attracted me to one word – Self-motivated. If all my new team members are so motivated, do I need to motivate them further to get the best results. May be not. Then I wondered what are all motivation factors that can put my team up to do something out of the routine.

  • Money – the foremost point came from the team.
  • Team outings – Hmmm Okay – was the reply
  • Some motivating Gyan – Yawn came thru

And for the first two points, I can make recommendations or somewhat bound thru organizational policies. So expecting a manager to motivate his/ her team has only indirect levers. But my question still remains – If any team member (or team) need(s) motivation as expected by senior management?

Some thought to it and I feel a manager can inspire its team to attempt the higher orbits. Inspiration is something that can infuse motivation in them. Though the two words are used interchangeably sometimes, there is a difference in their impact. A dictionary.com result says inspire is “to fill with an animating, quickening, or exalting influence”.

I feel, without inspiration, motivation would die out soon. Inspiration can be the source of motivation. It is a driving force that lasts longer.

Let me know your views and discuss it further.

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