sales for the UK division of an international company. Every
month he sits down with his regional manager for a 'review'
of his sales to date. This consists of the manager examining
all the potential customers Brian has called on, who haven't
placed an order. Brian is then asked to give explanations on
why they haven't placed an order and the manager tells him
how he could have done better.
Do you think this is motivational for Brian? Do you think he
wants to go out and do even better? Of course he doesn't;
all he wants to do is find another job where he would feel
appreciated.
The ironic thing is that Brian is really a good salesperson
and regularly hits his target. I also know that his company
wouldn't like to lose him. It's just that his manager has no
idea about how to motivate Brian and get the best out of
him.
The manager primarily sees his role as finding faults and
correcting them. In the past year Brian's regional manager
has only spent one day with him visiting customers and
observing him doing his job.
The Number1 secret of team motivation, is - Spend some
quality time!
I didn't say "quantity time" I said "quality time." One or
two minutes of quality time on a regular basis are far more
productive than a one hour review every month or every year.
You need to get to know each member of your team better and
they need to get to know you. This will help you build a
positive relationship with each team member.
Here are 6 good reasons to spend quality time.
1. You'll gain a much better understanding of them and how
they're handling the job.
2. It will give the impression that you care about the
individual and show that you're there to help with problems
both personal and business.
3. It will encourage opinions and ideas to flow from them
and allows you to explain the company's mission.
4. It gives them a feeling of being in on things which is a
huge motivator.
5. It will also help you build an "early warning system" of
any problems both business and personal.
6. Finally, it builds team spirit and morale.
It's important to get out of your office or up off your seat
and interact with your team on a regular basis, don't wait
for them to come to you. Pull up a chair and have chat and
don't just talk about business, find out how they're doing
on a human level. That doesn't mean prying into their
personal life, but your team members want to feel that
you're interested and care about them as a person.
Listen and observe what they do in their job; tell them what
you do like and tell them what you think they could do
better. And make sure you really listen to what they have to
say.
So there you have it, and if you really think about it, any
other relationship that you have - with your partner, your
children or your friends will benefit a great deal if you
spend some quality time.