pramod
6

11 Ways to Motivate Geeks - Tips from the book Leading Geeks

Every leader wants a motivated group, but many find that motivating

technology workers is quite different from motivating other employees.

Here are a few tips from a book "Leading Geeks: How to Manage and

Lead People Who Deliver Technology"

1. Select Wisely. The most important thing a leader can do to

encourage intrinsic motivation is to assign work to geeks who have an

interest in the work.

2. Manage Meaning. The second most important thing a leader can do is

to give a geek some sense of the larger significance of their work.

Without a sense of meaning, motivation suffers and day-to-day

decisions become difficult. It is easy for geeks to become mired in

the ambiguous world of questions, assumptions, and provisional facts

characteristic of technical work.

3. Communicate Significance. It is very important for managers to be

explicit about the role a new technology plays in a business otherwise

some will misunderstand the centrality of their work and others may

develop delusions of grandeur.

4. Show Career Path. Many geeks have only a vague sense that there's

more to advancing their careers than just acquiring new technical

knowledge. Be specific about what competencies a geek must demonstrate

in order to advance their career.

5. Projectize. Projects help turn work into a game and geeks love

games with objectives that delineate both goals and success criteria.

6. Encourage Isolation. While geeks need free flowing communication

within their own work groups, collective seclusion provides fertile

soil for motivation, cultivating cohesion and concentration.

7. Engender External Competition. Healthy competition can enhance

group cohesion.

8. Design Interdependence. When a colleague is relying on you to

complete your work, it's much easier to put in the extra effort for

them than it is just to meet some externally imposed deadline.

9. Limit Group Size. As group size grows, colleagues become less

individuals and more an undistinguished mass of anonymous faces. The

larger the workgroup, the less conducive the environment for

developing intrinsic motivation.

10. Control Resource Availability. Whether thinking about money,

people, time, or training, there's a delicate balance of resources

that will encourage a group's enthusiasm. Too many resources or too

few can diminish interest in the work.

11. Offer Free Food. . .Intermittently. Never underestimate the power

of free food. I can't offer any rational explanation, but for geeks,

even those making sizeable incomes, free food offers major support to

motivation development, far more than an equivalent amount of cash

- Paul Glen of C2 Consulting

From India, Bangalore
Community Support and Knowledge-base on business, career and organisational prospects and issues - Register and Log In to CiteHR and post your query, download formats and be part of a fostered community of professionals.





Contact Us Privacy Policy Disclaimer Terms Of Service

All rights reserved @ 2024 CiteHR ®

All Copyright And Trademarks in Posts Held By Respective Owners.