When I say the words MOTIVATION I am sure you have a million and one scenarios running through your head haven’t you. As a Manager you are probably thinking Landie, it’s not my responsibility to keep my team motivated or how do I motivate someone that doesn’t want to be motivated or how do I influence an environment that is not conducive to maintaining a level of motivation because there are factors that are out of my control such as the organisation itself, other departments that let us down or even the economy.
These are all legitimate questions, and my short answer to this is to change the things that are in your control and influence those that are not.
One thing you do need to realise is that you only have the power to influence others especially if they find themselves in a very negative space. You cannot change a negative mindset you can only influence it. How you may be asking, it’s a case of ensuring that the person is willing and wanting to make the change. To do the hard work in instituting that change. If they are only wanting sympathy, then no matter how much you influence it will never materialise.
People are complicated, they have a mindset developed through culture and upbringing. They have been conditioned since they were children how to think and act and this cannot be changed by you. The person needs to make the choice ultimately and you can then offer the support and accountability to executing what needs to be changed. You cannot do the work, they need to.
As a Sales Manager we often pick up a person is demotivated when they have not achieved their target. We then begin asking questions and generally the answers would be blame game, sound familiar? The target is too high, the economy is bad, the product can’t sell, the client isn’t interested.
These you need to identify as excuses and a mask to what the real problem. Your job as a Manager is to identify the real reasons, then ascertain whether the reason is legitimate. If it is changing the situation if it is in your control or assist the person to overcome the obstacle as best, you can. If it isn’t in your control be honest in voicing this but be sure to try your utmost to influence that change. The key here is to never promise something that you cannot bring to fruition or something that you know you cannot do.
If the reasons are excuses call them out as just that and ask the person what they can do to change the circumstance. Remember that every problem that your team has is not necessarily your burden to carry or resolve.
When a mindset is the problem to send them for training or increase their activities will not change the outcome. Here you need to look into the factors influencing the mindset and become a greater influencer. Especially when a person has always been an overachiever and all of a sudden now isn’t. This in most cases boils down to mindset problem and if you do not catch it early you run the risk of loosing this person. In most cases here they have already found another opportunity and now are not achieving because they know they are moving on soon. The other reason is a trauma or person problem happening at home. Do not get too involved with these but afford them time off to resolve these issues.
If the person is inconsistent it could be a training or activity issue which we will address in greater detail in a later chapter.
Another question you may asking is why a motivational video, speaker, quote doesn’t last the test of time. It’s very simple if you think about it. In the moment you are living someone else’s reality, you are a part of their story but when the euphoria wears off you are back in your shoes and their reality is very different to theirs.
The change to have the victory like the other person took a lot of work, it took a Mindshift and ACTION to get to the victory. This ACTION is often too much of a stretch for the person to initiate and so they reboot to what worked for them.
As a Salesperson change is incredibly difficult, why? Because change means that you need to try something different and trying something different means that initially your productivity and in most cases your target will drop while you get comfortable with the change. This is incredibly scary and risky for a Salesperson where making target means a pay cheque at the end of the month or worse whether they have a job or not. Bare this in mind when you make too many changes at once.
A big pitfall many Manager implement is that they paint the entire team with the same brush, if one needs training on x then all need that training. This isn’t true and can be very demotivating.
Be sure to train or send those on training that will gain benefit from it, if a salesperson is not selling, they are not making money so if they are taken out of the field, they need to know the benefit to THEM! If you do not clarity the why for the training they will not be engaged and view it as a waste of time, another demotivating factor that could creep in. Ultimately, they will be wasting your time and theirs through this. Be mindful of the team’s time and how it is being spent.
As a Manager you need to know what the team needs to get out of the allocated training. You need to understand the content and the outcomes you want after the training. Then you need to hold them accountable to implementing the changes. This way they will know upfront that it is important to you and therefore is important to them.
In my coaching I often use the analogy of Green and Red buttons, we all have them regardless of age, colour or creed and they are often different from person to person. When you push someone’s Green button you motivate, and when you push the Red you demotivate. To mindful that you are avoiding the Red buttons at all cost as the consequences could be difficult to rectify. This is very different to discipline and addressing a behaviour, this needs to be done.
What I am referring to here is avoiding saying things that can be perceived as negative or giving a person public recognition when they do not like the limelight.
Knowing what motivates and demotivates each person within your team is key to keeping the motivation levels at an acceptable level and this is your responsibility to know. Often you can pick this up by watching behaviour or simply by asking what motivates or demotivates them. Or to phrase it differently ask what currently is causing discomfort and how else do you want things handled in a scenario.
I want to touch on relationships both within your team and with colleagues within your organisation as I believe that most demotivation stems from problems within an organisation, true? What happens when you yourself are demotivated because in your opinion your team is fulfilling its responsibilities to sell. However, the other departments are dropping the ball, sound familiar. Well as a Manager this is your responsibility to foster a trusting relationship with those that work closely with you and your team.
The key is to over time build trust and foster and relationship that is mutually beneficial to both departments. This could in some cases be tricky if the person on the side is not willing to bend nor work with you. My advice here would be to uncover their why and to persevere. Every person needs to be acknowledged and be noticed as a person of value and a thank you will go a long way in fostering this relationship.
Another key here is to understand their processes, their pain points and to resolve the areas where your team is adding pressure to these. When they begin to view you as a person that is concerned with their welfare and resolving key issues affecting them, they may be more willing to help with your areas of frustration.
Unfortunately, this process will always begin with you, and if you are wanting to begin that change the work will need to be yours initially. I can however encourage you that it will not all be in vain if you push through the roadblocks and continue foster the relationship with patience. This isn’t a once off thing it will take time.
From a team member perspective, it is a little easier to begin this process. As mentioned, before you need to look at the Green and Red buttons for each individual, understand them.
Recognition in their language and in a way that they can receive it will go a very long way. I must add here that a passing untrue comment will not do the trick. The recognition needs to be real and you need to believe what you are saying.
Do you believe that you are being recognised and appreciated enough?
Do you believe that you are recognising and appreciating those around you enough?
I can almost guarantee that both those answers were a no. The reason is that we often do not give what we do not receive. It’s very sad, we tend to give when we are feeling good, or have had a good day, but to give someone some recognition even when you are not in a good place, or if it doesn’t benefit you is the key to hitting the right mark.
There is a very big difference between a tap on the shoulder with a vague “well done”, to saying “hey John I want to recognise your perseverance in getting that deal closed. I noticed that you worked late 3 nights this week, that you sacrificed beyond the call of duty and you have really gone the extra mile in every way. I honour you for your tenacity and for your ethics as well as your integrity and I want to say thank you for setting an example for the rest of the team to follow”. This kind of recognition outlines what he did that was good, the actions, the sacrifice and the detail. This means you saw everything; you saw him and not just the value of the deal that added to your bottom-line.
Doing this for everybody, your team, your colleagues, your family I can promise will go a long way. Imagine you received that kind of recognition; how would you feel? Wouldn’t it make you want to do more? Wouldn’t it change your day in a good way? I dare you to try it and watch the response.
