Influencing and Motivating Teams

Leading and managing a team sometimes feels like trying to keep several plates spinning at once. If you ask us, people management is both fulfilling and rewarding, but it also comes with its own challenges. At some point in your career, you will have to make hard decisions, have difficult conversations and influence opinions. Then there’s the critical task of keeping everyone engaged and motivated.

Maintaining an engaged, motivated team is essential for an organisation to grow and be profitable. Motivation has a direct impact on performance and productivity. Employees who feel motivated are more likely to feel energised to do their best at work. Poor leadership is a contributing factor in organisations with declining levels of motivation.

In this blog we’ll take a look at how to identify the signs of declining motivation, some of the key factors that influence motivation at work and how managers might approach them. But first, let’s talk about you.

If you don’t feel motivated, how can you motivate your team?

When taking a flight, the safety demo will always advise you to put on your own oxygen mask before helping others. The same principle applies to motivation. You cannot motivate and influence others effectively if your own motivation levels are dwindling. Look after your own needs before helping others.

Maintaining your own motivation can be tricky, particularly if you’re new to management or your team or organisation is going through a period of change. Being an inspiration to others isn’t easy in times of uncertainty. Your team will look to you for motivation and leadership, so it’s up to you to remain positive in challenging situations.

If you’re struggling to motivate yourself, take a step back and re-connect with your purpose and goals. Look at the difference you and your team make every day. Remind yourself of the reasons you do your job and eliminate any self-doubt.

High performing people managers know what it takes to motivate themselves and their team. When you feel motivated, you’re in a better place to assist others.

New leaders, seek out learning and development

Not everyone is a born leader, but the key skills can be learned. New leaders can easily feel out of their depth when placed in a role without proper training. Promoting someone to a role with leadership responsibilities suggests you’ve already identified their potential, so it’s important to deliver the learning and development that person needs to deliver on their promise.

Perhaps this is a situation you personally identify with? If this is you, please ask for the training you require to help you grow and become an effective people manager.

How to identify declining motivation

Demotivation usually manifests itself in four main ways. These are the signs to look out for.

Underperformance - productivity dips, employees lack interest in their work and don’t deliver what’s expected of them.

Withdrawal from the team - employees don’t engage or join in with team discussions, meetings and activities.

Increased lateness, sickness and absence - employees arrive late, do the bare minimum, and leave on the dot.

Disagreements - employees criticise decisions, might start arguments or disagree with colleagues’ opinions.

Factors that influence motivation at work

Now we understand the signs of declining motivation, let’s dive deeper into what causes it.

New ways of working

Remote, hybrid and flexible workers might go for long periods without seeing their manager or team in the flesh, which can lead to feelings of isolation. Adapting to new circumstances and ways of working takes time and must be carefully managed.

Poor strategic communication

Employees can feel demotivated when they don’t understand the organisation’s strategy or their role in it. Two way communication is key to create clarity and connection.

Lack of opportunities

Poor performance is often the result of a lack of development opportunities. Managers should be able to identify the reasons for this through an effective performance management process. Common reasons include a desire for promotion, upskilling and training.

Conflict within the team

Internal disagreements as a result of differing views and opinions can have a huge impact on team motivation. Team leaders have a responsibility to ensure individual opinions are heard, understood and acted upon.

Personal circumstances

It’s difficult to motivate yourself at work if you have problems at home. Employees could well be struggling with financial difficulties, caring responsibilities, family bereavement or breakdown. Take time in your team one-to-ones to check on employee wellbeing.

The benefits of investing in learning and development for managers

As we shared earlier, most people aren’t born leaders, however leadership skills can be developed. Equipping your managers with the skills, mindset, behaviours, tools and techniques they need to manage the situations we’ve identified in this post is essential to maintain morale, engagement and motivation.

There are clear benefits in investing in learning and development to allow people managers to unlock their full potential and the potential of those around them. When your workforce feels valued and trusted, their performance improves and productivity increases, with clear tangible impact on the bottom line.

Confident, effective managers know how to maintain their own motivation to push productivity and influence their team to deliver to the highest possible standards. In turn, improving team performance may have a positive impact on customer experience by building loyalty and leading customers to choose you over your competitors.

Promoting internal growth and development opportunities may also save on recruitment and induction costs. Imagine the positive impact on team motivation if employees understand your organisation prioritises their development and upskilling over recruiting externally.

Join our next free Lunch & Learn webinar

Like any skill, influencing and motivating a team becomes easier with practice. Leadership can be a lonely place. So why not join our free Influencing and Developing your Team webinar on 10th May 2023.

We’ll be exploring some of the key factors affecting team motivation and sharing tips on how to adapt your leadership style to individual preferences. We’ll also take a look at managing underperformance and creating a strategy to keep you and your team motivated.

Further reading

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy reading Performance Appraisals - are they effective?, Resilience and Change or our eBook - The Importance of Learning and Development, which tackles the subject of developing leaders from within.

How we can help you

If you’d like to discuss any of the topics raised in this blog, call Chloë Bisson, our Learning and Development Consultant, today on 0161 941 2426 or email chloe@p3pm.co.uk for more information.