A message from Sandy.  Motivation is a term we hear often, generally associated with human behavior, meaning a state of mind that moves us to action. As collaboration of your teams continue to grow, one question that takes on greater importance is how to keep your team motivated over the long haul?

What are the ingredients or characteristics of teams that seem to sustain high levels of motivation? Here are some thoughts to consider:

What Makes Us Do Anything?

Probably the first question to ask “what makes us do anything?”, or “why am I reading this blog?” “Why did I get out of bed and go to work today?” Each day brings with it an endless list of decisions to be made. The process of making those decisions is driven, in large, by the hope of a benefit or the fear of a consequence.(consequences could also be needs) Our needs for sustenance, safety, security, belonging, recognition, and a sense of growth and achievement become strong motivators of behavior. Every decision we make is filtered through this process.

The subject of motivation is simple and complex. Simple in that it explains much of what we see happening in human behavior, yet complex when it poses contradictions.

Why Be Part Of The Team?

You have asked your team to participate in some task, immediately their decision making process begins and in their heads, might sound like this:

• What is our purpose?
• Is this topic or task something that interests me?
• Who will be on the team with me?
• What kind of decision making or authority will we have?
• Is this important to the office?
• What is the reward for participating?
• What is the perceived punishment for not participating?
• How long will it take?
• Will I be better off as a result of my participation?

These may be some of the typical questions your team would ask themselves when faced with an invitation to participate in some kind of task. Do they relate to our motivation to participate…….absolutely!  Sometimes, we are not given the opportunity to refuse participation, in these cases we are part of the team by default. In either case, motivation can rise or fall depending on many factors. Next we will look at some of them.