“Motivation is simple. You eliminate those who are not motivated.” Lou Holtz

Regardless of whether you are putting your staff together or whether they are already in place, the importance of the ongoing support of your subordinates cannot be overemphasized. At the beginning of a new initiative, motivation usually isn’t a big problem—unless people are confused about what is expected of them.

Unforeseen events disrupt even the best plans. It’s natural for people to begin to drag their feet, forget about details, lose steam, or give in to opposition. How do you counteract these tendencies? See below tips that will put your stuff together and motivate them.

1. Goals.

Use your understanding of preferred roles, values, competencies, and expectations of individuals in daily interactions, such as planning goals together. Assign tasks in the work breakdown structure consistent with capabilities and the level of challenge, neither too hard nor too easy. Set up big successes with a series of little successes. Check that people have a process to achieve their objectives or feel competent in creating such a process. Check that people know what results they are supposed to achieve, and why.

2. Ownership.

Make clear by discussion what work people own and how they are responsible and empowered to make decisions. Welcome participation in substantive organizational decisions. Give people expense authorization. Encourage those who seek increased areas of responsibility. Encourage people to put their name on their work. Show people how their contribution is part of a larger program that makes a real difference.

3. Measurements.

Establish frequent, objective, and none threatening self-measures of performance for people who are more engaged when there are “scores” or metrics.

4. Teamwork.

Clarify that motivating others is everyone’s job. Design organizations in which groups cooperate by establishing objectives for collaboration. Attempt to understand an unmotivated team member and then resolve the lack of motivation. Add a variety of simple, fun events to work, like team celebrations, meals, the use of humor, team sports, or special outings.

5. Excellence.

Encourage people by expressing confidence in their abilities. Request and support excellence since most people want to feel good about the quality of their work. Demonstrate excellence by personal example.

6. Appreciation.

Learn what recognition individuals prefer. For accomplishments and positive behaviors, thank people specifically, frequently, with sincerity and variety, and soon after a meritorious deed is completed. Express appreciation in private, if necessary to avoid negative consequences from co-workers. Celebrate successes.

7. Suggestions.

Offer suggestions sparingly, unless they are requested. Communicate suggestions directly, in private, or indirectly, according to culture. Make constructive suggestions to address differences between expected performance and observations. Offer suggestions that are opportunities for growth and success, and do so in a positive way to avoid defensive reactions. Help people prevent mistakes by sharing early observations.

8. Money.

Implement pay for performance philosophy, providing larger financial rewards to people who make more significant, sustained contributions. Adjust salaries and distribute stock options. Encourage stock ownership. Reinforce the causal relationship between performance and profit-sharing.

9. Consequences.

Avoid punishing good behavior (examples: overworking a good performer to make up for a bad performer; unleashing your anger at the person who delivers the news that a project is not going well). Avoid rewarding bad behavior or the absence of good behavior (examples: giving extra attention to a poor performer; promoting, or sending on trips, a poor performer because you cannot spare a good performer). Avoid promising rewards since promised rewards lead to a focus on the reward and less on the problem. Promised rewards also diminish a sense of control and hinder sustained interest.

10. Respect.

Demonstrate respect for people at all times by honoring their intelligence, skills, and points of view. React enthusiastically to genuine cooperation. Do not criticize, blame, humiliate, or ridicule people in public. Gently correct behavior problems. Do not punish people for trying to do what you expect, like sharing innovative ideas or probing the basis of a questionable opinion. Be empathetic and compassionate.

11. Fairness.

Create an environment and make decisions that are fair to everyone. Reward people on performance. Do not tolerate sustained poor performance. Recognize that what people perceive and how they react to motivational efforts may be culturally dependent.

12. Communicate.

Keep people informed, erring on the side of over-communication. Communicate regularly to avoid surprises. Ask and support people to express their concerns. Listen actively to understand and be able to paraphrase opinions. Speak in ways that make people proud of their affiliation with you and the organization.

13. Changes.

Pursue constancy of purpose and avoid unnecessary changes. Do not start programs that are patches for crises, especially if there is no follow-up or benefit. If changes are necessary, involve people in understanding the change and use other leading change techniques. Because desire for closure is a strong driver that keeps people working on tasks that should be discontinued, put in extra effort to motivate change. Use the power of the word because when helping people understand why changes are necessary.

14. Irritants.

Talk to people and find out what irritates them. Be careful about sarcasm. Manage meetings to avoid wasting time. Common irritants include disturbing noises, flickering lights, annoying smells, cramped space, distracting temperatures, and poor tools. Eliminate unnecessary approvals, delays, inspections, rework, and unsafe conditions. Remove tasks with a low return and a high level of effort. Help eliminate or overcome obstacles, both imagined and real. Avoid command and control management styles—focus on results.

15. Roles.

Determine what roles individuals prefer, by looking for patterns of activity in answers to questions like “Tell me about some job you’ve had that you really enjoyed?” “What outside interests do you pursue?” and “Is there anything you’ve always wanted to do, but never got to?”

16. Values.

Identify, recognize, and use the special strengths of people. Learn from each individual what he or she values. Values like achievement, control, experience, recognition, responsibility, creativity, health, relationships, competence, enjoyment, peace of mind, resources, time. Consider modifying job responsibilities to tap available competencies. Support requests to develop competencies.

17. Expectations.

Ask what actions people are particularly motivated to undertake. Find out what outcomes people expect from particular actions, and the value they place on those outcomes. Understand key needs that you may be able to fulfill in exchange for their cooperation.

18. Limits.

Accept that the ability to motivate others is limited. Only a portion of motivation is subject to influences, since a host of personality traits, values, and basic needs are deeply ingrained. Performance is not only a function of motivation, but also knowledge, discipline, habits, skills, goals, strategies, and facilities.

Always ask yourself “What’s in it for the other person?” Since people often want to be involved, powerful motivation may result simply from asking for people’s help. Motivating others to support your project when operating across organizations may be accomplished by providing more opportunities, feedback, tangible results, or encouragement than they get anywhere else.

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