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.
What does genuine recognition actually look like?
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.
The recognition that lands isn’t the kind you go looking for on a schedule, it’s the kind you catch in passing… a piece of work that solved something harder than it looked, a problem someone quietly fixed before it became anyone else’s problem, effort that would’ve gone unnoticed if you weren’t actually paying attention. None of that shows up in a status report. You have to be looking for it in real time, not reconstructing it two weeks later in a review.
How do we make this bigger than just us?
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.
What happens when this becomes habit, not a one-off?
When this becomes routine instead of a rare event, something shifts. People stop performing for recognition and start doing the work because it matters to them, the recognition just confirms what they already knew. Small and sincere, said right when it happens, ends up mattering more than a bigger recognition program that only shows up twice a year ever could, even a well-intentioned one.