As leaders of teams, of various disciplines and responsibilities, how do we keep people positively motivated on an individual basis? I have read some pretty detailed articles on methods for coordinated group motivation, and one to one closed door meetings to speak about individual goals. Which are fine in their own way, but to me there is a much simpler, more effective, and honest way of sincere motivation.

Every day, I am genuinely impressed by the talent of those around me. In any variety of action and result that it happens, it legitimately happens.
That’s the time, that’s the moment… simply and sincerely compliment what deserves to be complimented at the moment. Keep it honest though, don’t pat backs, just for the sake of it (or your recognition will begin to hold no value). But do keep your eyes and ears widely open, there are unsung heroes all around you.

For example, take a talented team of interactive code developers. Often the most unsung heroes I come across. Their talent is often behind a brilliant creative design and UI presentation, and what is not so obvious is the tricky technical challenge that took some clever and innovative coding chops, to pull off. That, is art to a code developer..and it’s art to me.

I say Keep it small, and keep it simple… but keep it coming as genuinely deserved. Encourage your managers to do the same within the subset of teams they manage (and let them cc you when calling out impressive work). That will prove to be your most valuable investment towards building a great interactive team of colleagues.