Team motivation: what is it and how to promote it?

These are the keys to boost team motivation in the work context.

We live in an era of competitiveness, and having the most motivated team possible is essential for most companies.

However, it is not always easy to achieve this effect. In order to delve deeper into this issue, we will take a look at some of the most important some of the most important keys that increase team motivation and thus make it easier to and thus facilitate the achievement of the objectives set.

What is team motivation and why is it essential?

In these times in which we live, markets dominate everything, and therefore it is essential that each company tries to stand out from the rest, and this would never be achieved without a solid team behind it to carry out the work in the most efficient way possible, so that finally it is your product or service that captivates the consumer ahead of the rest of the options. But for that to happen, employees have to be committed to the organization.and this is achieved through team motivation.

A team that is not motivated will not perform as well as it could, and therefore we will be wasting valuable potential, because the members of our department will provide a version of themselves that is probably not the best, the most creative or the most efficient, because a motivated person involved in a project undergoes a transformation and generates a quality of work that is difficult to achieve otherwise, hence the extraordinary importance of team motivation.

Motivation is what makes people have the energy to move towards the achievement of a goal, not only in the workplace but also in the workplace.not only in the work environment but in any plane of a human being's life. Team motivation, therefore, would be the key to achieve that all components of our work group perform the behaviors we seek, without sparing efforts, thus facilitating the achievement of all purposes that have been established to complete the project satisfactorily.

The keys to boost team motivation

We already know the importance of proper team motivation, but the most important part remains: what are the keys to be able to carry this out.

The first thing to keep in mind is that the motivational process is not entirely extrapolable from one person to another, since each individual is motivated by his or her own motivation.Each individual will be more motivated by some reinforcements than others. What is certain is that some general guidelines can be established, which we are going to describe below, in order to design an effective motivational plan.

1. Salary

Obviously, the main factor that comes into play in motivating teams is salary. The fact is that financial compensation (sometimes supported by allowances in kind) is essential to the initiation and maintenance of an employment relationship.. The salary must reach a minimum threshold for the person who receives it if we want the rest of the factors to fulfill their motivating function, since if we do not cover their most basic needs we can hardly expect the worker to be committed.

However, the salary has a limit to its motivating effect. After a certain amount (which is different for each person), motivation ceases to increase through this factor, and we can only maximize it in combination with the other factors.

In short, salary is a basic motivator, and without it the other criteria do not work, but after a certain limit, it is only the rest that continue to have an effect. It is important to keep this mechanism in mind if we want to achieve the best results in our team motivation.

2. Growth

Another motivating factor in a job is expectations of growth, knowing that within the company you can have a professional career that will lead to a series of promotions which will entail a series of promotions, improved conditions, increased responsibilities and even managing larger and larger teams.

This professional growth is also accompanied by personal growth, which helps the individual to reach the top of the needs according to Maslow's pyramid, which is none other than self-fulfillment.

3. Dynamism

In most cases, monotonous, repetitive and mechanical jobs, soon end up saturating the worker and cause him to lose motivation towards the task. That is why it is important to introduce some dynamism, as far as possible, since not all jobs allow for the same degree of change in procedures. Modifications and variety will keep the team's mind active and more motivated.

Of course, changes must be moderate and always in line with the worker's skills and abilities, since a radical change and entrusting him with tasks that have nothing to do with his usual position could cause frustration and therefore the opposite effect to what we are looking for with this mechanism.

4. Work environment

Likewise, it will be essential to to have a good working environment if we want to succeed in our team motivation program..

Let's keep in mind that the worker will spend most of his day at the workplace, interacting with his colleagues. It is therefore essential that there is a work environment, if not good, at least neutral, because if negative interactions between workers were common every day, motivation would drop drastically, as is logical.

5. Effective communication

Another necessary factor to develop team motivation is effective communication at all levels. This means that there must be clear communication channels that are known to all those involved, so that the messages reach and are understood by all.This means that messages must reach and be responded to fluently, whether among project colleagues, between subordinates and managers, or vice versa. If a worker tries to transmit a message and does not have a clear communication channel or does not receive a response, he/she will become frustrated and demotivated.

The usual secrecy, the lack of transparency in communications, will also cause a decrease in team motivation, as workers will feel alien to the company and therefore will not be driven to get involved in achieving the company's objectives, as they will see it as an entity totally independent of themselves. It is essential that communication flows for a team to feel like a team.

6. Recognition of achievements

Recognizing workers for their achievements, letting them know of their worth and importance to the company, is a highly motivating factor. If we want a person to be involved in a common challenge, it is necessary that he/she feels that he/she is an essential part of achieving the objective.. If, on the other hand, we ignore him or make less of his achievements, what we will achieve is that he will stop making an effort, since he will be losing social reinforcement, which is fundamental in the motivation of teams.

7. Workload

It is clear that the workload assigned to the worker and the team itself must be reasonable. At a given moment an extra effort can be requested (always accompanied by the appropriate motivational factors), but if this becomes a constant the only thing we will get will be a group of totally exhausted people who in no way will have the necessary motivation to carry out the challenges we have assigned them.

8. Defined objectives

This point has to do with the communication we mentioned before. Sometimes team leaders are well aware of the objectives to be met and the tasks to be performed to achieve them, but fail to convey these concepts to the workers under their charge. For a correct motivation of teams it is necessary to communicate clearly what are the objectives to be achieved, what are the tools we have and the deadlines to be met..

If, on the contrary, the team lives in a constant uncertainty in which priorities fluctuate depending on the day, motivation will be lost. In addition, the appropriate level of importance must be assigned to each task. An example of ineffective work dynamics would be to assign top priority to absolutely all requested tasks. The problem is that when everything is urgent, nothing is urgent, as the focus of the real priority is lost.

10. The leader

All the points we have seen so far are fundamental to achieve team motivation, but possibly none of them would work if the team did not have the right leadership. The leader is the captain, the one who must lead the way and set the example. He should not demand anything from his team members that he himself has not already demonstrated through his own work.. This attitude is one of the greatest motivators a team can find.

If at the head of the group we have a person who radiates energy, who is fair and hardworking, who assigns tasks with good judgment, gives some autonomy to its members, communicates messages perfectly and is resolute in the incidents that arise, we will have much of the motivation of teams done.

Bibliographical references:

• Boada, J., Diego, R., Agulló, E. (2004). Burnout and psychosomatic manifestations as a consequence of organizational climate and work motivation. Psicothema.
• Marin H.S., Placencia, M.D. (2017). Motivation and job satisfaction of the staff of a private sector health organization. Horizonte Médico (Lima).
• More, J.L. (2005). Work motivation and human resource management in Frederick Herzberg's theory. Management in the third millennium.