Hi Amit,
Alignment of aims, purpose and values between staff, teams and organization is the most fundamental aspect for finding motivation.The better the alignment and personal association with organizational aims, the better the platform for motivation.
Motivation is a complex area. Motivation is different for each person. Motivational receptiveness and potential in everyone changes from day to day, from situation to situation.
Get the alignment and values right, and motivational methods work better. Motivational methods of any sort will not work if people and organisation are not aligned. People are motivated towards something they can relate to and something they can believe in.
Times have changed. People want more. You should view the following motivational methods and ideas as structures, activities and building blocks, to be used when you have a solid foundation in place.
Motivational and inspirational quotes, poems, posters, motivational speakers and stories, team building games and activities, all develop employee motivation for staff in all kinds of organizations.
Motivational and inspirational experiences improve employees' attitudes, confidence and performance. Motivational methods are wide-ranging, from inspirational quotes and poems, to team building games and activities, as ice-breakers, warm-ups and exercises for conferences, workshops, meetings and events, which in themselves can often be helpful for staff motivation too.
People playing games or competing in teams learn about each other, they communicate better and see each other in a new light. Mutual respect grows. Playing games enables people to experience winning and achieving in a way that their normal work might not. People become motivated to achieve and do better when they have experienced the feelings of success and achievement, regardless of context. This is why fire-walking and outward-bound activities have such powerful motivational effect.
Ice-breakers and warm-ups for motivation break down the barriers, and therefore help develop rapport and relationships.
Building confidence for motivation - Learning something new and completely different liberates the mind. Facing a challenge, meeting it and mastering it helps build confidence.
Physical activity is motivational - Team building activities like juggling, construction exercises, or outdoor games, get the body moving, which is good for general health and for an energetic approach to work. A minute of juggling three balls is 200 throws, the equivalent of pumping over 20 kilos. Physical activity also provides significant stress relief, and stress management is part of every organisation's duty of care towards its employees. People concentrate and work better when they have had some light exercise and physical stimulus. Physical activity energises people and reduces stress and tension.
Saying thanks is hugely motivational - Saying thanks and giving praise are the most commonly overlooked and under-estimated ways of motivating people. And it's so easy. Saying thanks is best said naturally and from the heart, so if your intentions are right you will not go far wrong. When you look someone in the eye and thank them sincerely it means a lot. In front of other people even more so. The key words are the ones which say thanks and well done for doing a great job, especially where the words recognise each person's own special ability, quality, contribution, effort, whatever. People always appreciate sincere thanks, and they appreciate being valued as an individual even more. When you next have the chance to thank your team or an individual team-member, take the time to find out a special thing that each person has done and make a point of mentioning these things. Doing this, the praise tends to carry even greater meaning and motivational effect.
Motivational quotes - Using inspirational quotations and sayings is motivational - Inspirational quotes contribute to motivation because they provide examples and role models, these inspirational images stimulate motivational images and feelings for the brain to visualise
regds,
sushma