Welcome to WM8C's Team Building Guide
Free Team Building Games Article
. For a permanent link to this article, or to bookmark it for further reading, click here.
You may also listen to this article by using the following controls.
Ten Techniques for Motivating Others through Chaos
from: Ed Sykes
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. Go to his web site, http://www.thesykesgrp.com, and signup for his newsletter, OnPoint, and signup for the newsletter, OnPoint, and receive the free ebook, "Empowerment and Stress Secrets for the Busy Professional."
Copyright Ed Sykes - http://www.thesykesgrp.com
Free Team Building Games News
HAWKEN Registers 100K Players in 24 hours -- You Are Free to Fight on 12/12/12
 LOS ANGELES, Feb. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- You are free to fight as Adhesive Games announces that HAWKEN, their highly anticipated mech shooter, will launch on 12/12/12 as a Free to Play (F2P) online gaming ...
Read more...Epic's 'Make Something Unreal Live' contestants to create Fighting Fantasy iOS games
Having recently optioned rights to the Fighting Fantasy series of books from Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson, Epic Games is putting an interesting spin on its Make Something Unreal Live contest. Here's how it works: four different start-up studios will each select one book from the fantasy series and make a game for Epic, to be released on the App Store sometime this spring. The winning team ...
Read more...Reynolds: Bradley building through victories
For the Bradley men’s basketball team, the end of the regular season is just 15 days away. Fifteen days may be too many for some fans who have tired of this often dreary BU season. But for coach Geno Ford and his staff, it’s 15 precious days — and five games — to further inculcate their vision for the Braves. That’s why experiences like Wednesday’s 68-60 victory over Indiana State are important ...
Read more...Next season's likely Super Bowl contenders
Six months ago, the Giants were being ridiculed by most pundits for mostly standing pat during the hectic week of free agency following the settlement of the NFL lockout. Yet the Giants’ patient approach worked out in the end, as demonstrated by the parties they had in Manhattan and East Rutherford on Tuesday, two days after their second Super Bowl win in five seasons.
Read more...Pats score in transition
When Scott Pioli exited the Patriots in January 2009, he left behind a legacy of team-building alongside coach...
Read more...Miami Dolphins Free Agency News Roundup
Miami Dolphins GM Jeff Ireland has a daunting task ahead of him this offseason: to save the Fins from toiling away in the bowels of the AFC East. In his three seasons as general manager, Ireland has failed to escape the hole the Dolphins have dug themselves into for over a decade,...
Read more...2012 NFL Free Agents: One Loss That Would Most Hurt Each NFL Team
2012 NFL Free Agency is almost here, and each team is scrambling to decide which players to bring back and which ones they should let walk. It’s always a difficult process for a front office to weigh all the different variables that go into the decision, but there are always players that teams know they must absolutely bring back. Whether the player is a grizzled veteran, a fan favorite or a ...
Read more...