What do you do if your team is lacking motivation and engagement?

I think the key factors would be: Build trust, common goals and celebrate achievements! Identify key employee to start with, instead of all at one time, to initiate the momentums and lead by examples.

While several factors can contribute to a lack of motivation and engagement, three key issues tend to have the biggest impact: **Unclear Expectations & Unrealistic Deadlines: This creates confusion and frustration, making it difficult for team members to feel invested in their work. **Poor Feedback: Without clear and constructive feedback, team members don't know where they stand or how to improve, leading to a sense of stagnation. **Low Recognition: A lack of appreciation for hard work demotivates team members and diminishes their sense of accomplishment.

Lack of motivation is the outer shell of the real problem. Real cause can be anything, from lack of trust, poor performance, unclear goals, or unrealistics expectations. I read somewhere, we all are motivated when we play a game. We rejoice with happiness on each goal made. Even a game like bowling gives us happiness. Reason is we know what is expected from us and when we achieve that, it gives a sense of fulfilment. When you know what is expected from you, and you are aware of your actionable goals, you will achieve your targets well. And you will gain your motivation too.

We have seen that this could be because of various factors. The best is to measure employee engagement through a well designed and well researched survey model and from a third party.

In my experience, peer sentiment drives team's morale. It is important to ascertain driving factors of a team and talking to them makes all the difference. Conversations outside of formal set up are quite powerful, so one should break the monotony of 1:1s.

Start by identifying the underlying reasons for the lack of motivation and engagement. Conduct one-on-one meetings with team members to understand their concerns, challenges, and areas where they feel demotivated. This could be due to various factors such as unclear goals, lack of recognition, interpersonal conflicts, or burnout. Another issue will be how safe is your work environment? create a supportive and positive work environment where team members feel comfortable expressing themselves and sharing their thoughts and concerns openly this will definitely led to team's motivation and engagement.

Lack of motivation and engagement can be tough, but here are some ideas: Have open conversations to understand the root cause, set clear goals, offer meaningful incentives, provide opportunities for growth, and foster a positive work culture. Also, consider team-building activities or workshops to reignite enthusiasm.

Communication is the key. Share your observations with the team and invite them for a discussion. Have a free flowing discussion and try to identify the reason for lack of motivation. Offer support and assure redressal of their concerns if any. You may also have R&R for the team and engage them in more productive tasks by identifying their key skills and interests.

Identifying the root causes of low motivation and engagement in a team requires a thoughtful approach; here are few ways of doing it; 1. Listen and Observe: Actively listen to team members' concerns and observations. Pay attention to verbal and non-verbal cues during meetings, one-on-one interactions, and informal conversations. 2.Feedback Channels: Establish anonymous feedback channels. 3. Review Performance Data: Analyze performance metrics, such as productivity levels, quality of work, and attendance records, to identify any patterns or trends that may indicate underlying issues. 4.Engagement Surveys: Conduct engagement surveys to gather quantitative data on satisfaction levels and alignment with company values.

To address team motivation and engagement issues, foster open communication, offer recognition for achievements, provide opportunities for professional development, and encourage collaboration. Regularly check in with team members to understand their concerns and support their growth within the project.

To reignite team engagement and collaboration, it's essential to establish SMART goals: **Specific: Clearly define the "why" and "who" behind each goal. Unveil the purpose and target audience for maximum focus. **Measurable: Track progress and celebrate success with clear metrics. Define how you'll know if the goal is achieved. **Attainable: Break down tasks into manageable steps. Ensure the goal is ambitious yet achievable through collaboration. **Relevant: Align goals with current priorities for maximum impact. Make sure they contribute to the bigger picture. **Time-bound: Set deadlines to create a sense of urgency and accountability. Give your team a clear timeframe for achieving each goal.

I would like to add one of my tools which i use in my coaching sessions. smart goals do work well but when used appropriately with a good time management technique. only smart goals will not work. one of the most important factors is to set achievable goals. It is crucial to assess the capabilities before setting the goals. Apparently with the sense of accomplishments it will really boost their morale and motivation. Irrespective of any parameter we should also check whether the set goals align with their personal aspirations and growth.

The team with no goals is just a bunch of people wandering about! Goals, are extremely crucial to motivate the team as they will help the team to align and move forward together. Setting goals for the team helps them to know what it they are working for, what is their role in that journey, and how they can contribute to achieving the bigger goal. Once the goals are set, regular and systematic monitoring of the same is required. At one of my companies, we used the BSC (Balanced ScoreCard) approach to track goals. We would review one aspect and in the subsequent present a short progress report on it before moving to the focussed agenda. This structured way setting and revieing goals, helps keep the team motivated and engaged.

Before setting any goals, ensure the team is aligned, the strategy is clear and everyone understands the big picture. OKRs are a great way of achieving not only transparency and alignment but focus as well.

SMART goals or OKRs are hot topics and they work when executed correctly, which to choose that is the hot potato here? OKRs are objectives while SMART is more specific and measurable actions you can implement today, but make a clear strategy where execution is key and accountability.

We conduct bi-annual personal objectives settings, inviting team members to reflect on their aspirations and commit to 3-5 SMART goals that foster their personal and professional growth. This process encourages individuals to consider how they can evolve into their best selves, ensuring they leave Meaningfy more enriched and accomplished than when they arrived. By holding each other accountable for these objectives, we cultivate a culture of continuous improvement and self-reflection, aligned with our value of mastery.

To mitigate these concerns, we set Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound (SMART) goals for both the new project and ongoing tasks. This clarity helped the team understand what was expected and how we could achieve our objectives without compromising work-life balance.

En définissant des buts clairs et atteignables, on offre à chaque membre un cadre précis et un sens de la direction. Cette méthode encourage l'équipe à visualiser le succès à travers des étapes concrètes et mesurables, rendant le processus moins intimidant et plus engageant.

- Foster a positive work culture with open communication and transparency 🌟 - Encourage creativity and innovation by allowing team members to explore new ideas and approaches 🚀 - Provide opportunities for skill development and growth through training and mentorship programs 📚 - Break big goals into smaller, manageable tasks🎯 - Recognize and reward achievements to boost morale and motivation 💪 - Organize team-building activities to strengthen bonds and camaraderie 🤝 #motivation #recognition #smartgoals #avoidestructivecriticism #careerdebelopment #smart #humabaig

It is critical to ascertain the reasons for the current situation, for which an atmosphere of openness has to be created. People should be able to provide their thoughts without inhibitions /fear. Once that is done, a thorough analysis needs to be done for sieving the chaff from the wheat, so that noise factor is eliminated. The disconnect sometimes could be due to perceptions, in which case, it should be ironed out by having an open dialogue. Also, to lead by example is important, that's walk the talk. Different people get inspired by different methods/reasons and so to take them with you accordingly, is crucial. Sharing small personal stories/incidents always helps. Also inspiring incidents that happened to other colleagues may be handy.

It's a common challenge faced by many leaders, especially in fast-paced work environments. Feedback is Key: Feedback isn't just about pointing out mistakes; it's about guiding your team members towards improvement and growth. Don't wait to give feedback until after the annual or quarterly reviews. As soon as a task or project is finished, provide it. By doing this, the input is guaranteed to be useful and relevant. Be specific about what was done well and what areas need improvement. For instance, instead of saying "good job," you could say, "I appreciate how you handled that difficult client situation with empathy and professionalism."

Feedback is a gift, everyone LOVES to GIVE, but HATE to RECEIVE! Feedback is the single most effective tool to keep the team motivated and engaged, but if not used in the right manner, it can and always does lead to demotivation and disengagement. Giving timely, accurate and neutral (For the situation/behaviour and not person or character) is key to keep the team members motivated and engaged. Keep the feedback - Timely - Do not wait for quarterly, biennual or annual review meetings. Specific - Share your observations not inferences. Neutral - Don't be prejudiced about talking negative over positive. Keep a balance. Actionable - Provide actionable intel on what the receiver can do to improve.

Feedback and that too genuine feedback is too too important. Positive feedback as well as feedback for improvement, both are equally necessary. It is important to build a comfort space with team members so that they feel confident and can develop trust to share their insecurities and be open. Only a trusting environment allows the mind to accept feedback. Even timely recognitions for smaller efforts play a great role in boosting the motivation of staff.

Public recognition is a great way of increasing engagement across organizations. Of course, appreciation is way more valuable when supported by a transparent, inclusive, and people-first culture.

Recognition: Fueling the Fire Effective recognition goes beyond a simple "good job." It's about acknowledging and appreciating individual and team contributions, both big and small. This serves several key purposes: *Boosts Morale *Reinforces Positive Behaviors *Provides Contextual Feedback *Strengthens Team Bonds Feedback: Guiding the Course Feedback is the essential navigation tool for your team. It helps them understand what they're doing well and where they can improve. To be most effective, feedback should be: *Specific *Timely *Constructive *Actionable *Balanced

Feedback and follow through are the basis of any kind of innovation or for a great culture among the team. when leaders / peers (360 degree) provide feedback it shows how much they care for the team development. it also helps in leveraging their strengths and convert the weaknesses to new skills. In a way it eliminates the blind spots. The best tool for feedback system is the leader turning out to be a coach and start conducting one to one sessions.

I have a simple rule to feedback, positive feedback give it in a group regonigze the good work in front of others, that make the person even more appreciated and the group knows he or she did something outstanding. If the feedback is not positive don't drag the person down, do it in private. Simple Positive = Public, Negative = Private...

I made it a point to regularly provide constructive feedback and recognize the team's efforts and accomplishments. This approach fostered a positive environment where team members felt valued and motivated.

Get together as a team and do a 2 word check in on how everyone is feeling. Acknowledge positive and negative emotions and help the team be aware of those. Talk about key issues facing the team that you can see and ask others to add what they see. Check what support is needed by each team member and offer it yourself or others in the team can volunteer. Create this regular practice to meet as a team. Also, conduct 1:1 at a cadence with team members.

Get the feedback and then gethering all these point of veiws, analyze the data weve get then we have to find out the causes of such cases, finally we have to make solutions based on results of analyses

Managers need to show their human side to the team. Don't expect to be managing machines, acknowledge that the team is human too. Communicate with empathy, about goals, their performance, and most importantly about them. Be respectful, when communicating with the team, be absolutely clear about what, why, and how you are saying what you are saying. Most importantly, BE GENUINE, when communicating, you can't fake it. Be genuine in understanding your team and offer to collaborate when they need it and not when it suits you.

Alignment and daily communication is key to success, think about if your team doesn't align and communicate how can they deliver their objectives? If it is high intense and under pressure wording can change, make sure to have clear rules to support these situations.

Encouraging daily active collaboration produces a better result. People don't communicate if they don't know one another. So, environment creation where everyone communicates daily and gets to know one another leads to far more productive meetings , feedback sessions and meaningful team outcome. 

1. Encourage Collaboration: Foster an environment where team members feel comfortable sharing ideas, collaborating on projects, and supporting each other's efforts. Encourage teamwork by organizing brainstorming sessions, team-building activities, and cross-functional projects that allow individuals to work together towards common goals. 2. Celebrate Successes Together: Acknowledge and celebrate achievements, both big and small, as a team. Recognize individual contributions and milestones reached collectively, whether it's meeting project deadlines, surpassing targets, or overcoming challenges. By celebrating successes together, you reinforce a positive team culture, boost morale, and strengthen bonding among team members.

Effective communication and collaboration were key to ensuring everyone was on the same page. Regular meetings and open channels of communication allowed for transparent discussions on workload management and project expectations.

Motivation is a moving target, unique to each individual. While traditional rewards have their place, true engagement comes from fostering a safe space where employees feel comfortable voicing concerns, challenges, and aspirations. By prioritizing psychological safety and active listening, you gain invaluable insights into what truly motivates your team. This human-centric approach leads to innovative solutions. Maybe it's offering mental health resources, flexible work arrangements, or clear paths for career growth. Tailoring your approach to individual needs fosters trust, boosts morale, and unleashes the full potential of your workforce.

Communication is key. Make sure you are truly listening, asking questions and trying to identify why individuals may be demotivated. Communication builds trust and trust mandates honesty. When you’ve identified an issue, don’t assume you also have the perfect answer to fix the problem immediately. If you do identify items that need to be fixed, be honest on what you have the ability to fix and what may need more effort. Be proactive with follow-up on these items. Hopefully, your team will begin to see that you are on this journey with them and can trust you to work through issues that may be pain points.

It is important to communicate in a balanced way. Space should be created for both professional and private matters. It is also important to create a balance between moderated and free communication. Especially when employees have the chance to speak freely, hidden problems are uncovered.

Life is full of ups and down in professional journey and when we are into the role of people manager we should leverage each and every teammate thoughts to come out when we do effective communication , which should be two way Top -Down as well as Bottom -up

Some of the things you do to help increase your team’s morale and confidence is by empowering and supporting your team members. Empowering comes with creating an environment where your team members feel heard, respected, valued and supported. Them having a psychologically safe space where they feel free to give feedback and share ideas without the fear of being judged is important to helping your team. And building relationships with your team members letting them know that you are there whenever they feel like they need to talk to someone and also having those team building activities with your team members is very important because it helps them build relationships and be able to collaborate well and communicate effectively.

“Today’s winners was once a loser”- we need to encourage and support our employees and give more opportunities and ensure the set goal with a vision is driven by employees to achieve their objectives.

Build trust with your team through your communication, and empower them and support them. Delegate key tasks to them, give them the details they need and step back, let them take initiative, show creativity, and support them throughout, no matter what the outcome. Allow them to learn from their own mistakes, have an open conversation with them about what they learned, and how they can avoid making the same mistake in the future.

Empowerment: Building Confidence and Ownership *Delegate Tasks: Trust your team members by delegating tasks that match their skill sets. *Provide Resources: Equip your team with the tools and resources they need to succeed. *Encourage Initiative: Create an environment where suggesting ideas and proposing solutions is encouraged. *Embrace Innovation: Promote a culture that values taking calculated risks and exploring new approaches. Support: The Fuel for Growth and Development *Offer Guidance: Provide clear instructions and answer questions to avoid confusion. *Celebrate Achievements: Recognize both individual and team successes. *Mentorship and Coaching: Pair experienced team members with newcomers to provide guidance and support.

Involve them in decision making process. Make them SPOCs for activities wherein erstwhile you were SPOCs. Give them confidence that you are standing behind them even if you are making them the face.

Listen, listen, and listen even more. Speaking, taking action, “making things happen” might ease the mind of the leader, but unless and until your team members feel heard, understood and supported, they’re not likely to truly care.

Empowering the team by involving them in decision-making processes, especially regarding task prioritization, played a significant role in boosting morale. Providing the necessary support and resources to accomplish their tasks also helped in maintaining high levels of engagement.

When a task exceeds a colleague's current capacity, we systematically decompose it into smaller, more achievable segments. This process is underscored by the assurance of their potential and our confidence in their capability to prevail. The key statement is "I trust you can do it." We adjust expectations away from perfection and we set shorter deadlines, which is conducive to a couple of rapid iterations - a first sloppy one and then a second one of a refined execution. This method cultivates a sense of accomplishment and reinforces the desire for continuous improvement.

In a recent consulting assignment, one of my clients was facing the same problem. While we developed a long term solution, the client wanted some quick steps to address the motivation and morale I had 1:1 sessions with the second rung of the leadership, identified key issues that were contributing to the issue and drew up an organizational strategy to address them This showed unexpected and surprising results and has helped us to work in the long term solution in a systematic and focused manner

Occasionally, either I or one of our senior tech folks will pull up a chair next to a teammate who’s hitting a wall and say, “Let’s tackle this together.” Don’t overlook how powerful working side by side can be. It’s not just about getting the task done; it’s about building strong bonds and learning from each other, especially when we stick to the good old rules of peer programming. It’s remarkable how much this can kick things into gear and bring us closer as a team.

Demonstrate the behaviors and attitudes you expect from them, such as enthusiasm, passion, and commitment. Show respect, empathy, and appreciation for your team, and be transparent to build trust. By leading this way, you inspire your team to perform at their best.

I committed to demonstrating a balanced approach to managing my responsibilities, illustrating that it was possible to contribute effectively to the new project without neglecting existing commitments.

La force de montrer l'exemple réside dans sa capacité à inspirer et motiver les autres non par des directives verbales, mais par des actions concrètes. Lorsque les individus observent les résultats positifs de votre comportement, ils sont plus enclins à emboîter le pas. Cela est d'autant plus vrai dans les moments difficiles; voir quelqu'un relever des défis avec courage et détermination peut transformer l'attitude et la performance d'une équipe entière.

As the leader , your No. 1 job or priority is to ensure the team is productive, collaborative and super happy. To succeed , you need to allow employees to feel a part of the active decision-making process. If you are arranging regular meetings/feedback sessions to make sure everyone’s getting the right content/information at the right time. This will make staff more eager to provide their valuable input.Extremely important is to strike the right balance between what works for your culture and what works for your team

You are never above your team, be part of the team, your genuine actions consciously involve in all the aspects with respect and dignity without even mentioning the problem statement. This requires servant Leadership in execution.

Team motivation is a result of alignment and integration of the goals Disconnect happens when there is no alignment and all they do is a task because they have to Active engagement and feeling of belongingness is important. The difference is between when the task is to build a building. one worker looks at it as laying the bricks while the other building a wall while the third looks at it as building a landmark building We all have to be part of the team and the fervour for achieving a milestone has to be there to work together regardless of our differences to win together.

Gallup has a highly validated questionnaire called Q12 to measure engagement. It consists of 12 questions. These questions measure 1. How well a person is given the opportunity to play to their strengths, 2. How much they are appreciated and cared for by their leaders, 3. How much respect and love they get, 4. How much does the organisation's vision excite them and 5. how dependable their colleagues are. If every leader and manager can focus on each of these dimensions, the engagementlevel will be very high.

When a team is struggling with motivation and engagement, it often points to a disconnect between the team's leadership or incentives and what truly inspires the team. The existing rewards or leadership style might not resonate with everyone. To tackle this, identifying and leveraging social influencers within the team can be a game-changer. These are team members who have the respect and attention of their peers. By empowering these influencers, you can create a ripple effect of positive behaviors and motivation, aligning the team more closely with the goals and changes you're aiming to implement. This peer-driven approach can often reach where traditional methods may not, fostering a more engaged and motivated team environment.

If team is lacking motivation & engagement, they are most likely doing, what they "have to", "must do", instead what they want to do. Find the gap & align intrinsic needs to work goals to create inspiring actions that leads to not only goals accomplishments but fulfillment. Make them part of ideation and execution that encourage to contribute & give a sense of ownership towards the work objectives. Communicate what is in it for them and how their contributions align to their desired career paths. Assign a coach as accountability partner to seek clarity, define goals & consistent actions while tracking progress. Create a safe & open environment of team/community, where they do not hesitate to make mistakes & share their POV.

To keep teams together one can have an informal lunch once a month. Make it a team effort, ask if the team would like rolls, chicken, chips, salad and coldrinks. Let team members source some of the items, provide funding. One of our team members provided the most amazing set ups with a table cloth, decorations, serviettes etc. Birthdays were celebrated in the same way, this time with cake.

Celebrate progress and every win: Acknowledging and celebrating your progress and every win is vital for maintaining motivation and confidence. Celebrate even small achievements and milestones along their journey outside of their comfort zones. Even the smallest accomplishments deserve recognition. Celebrate each completed mini-habit, no matter how insignificant it seems. This reinforces positive behavior and keeps motivated on the journey.This positive reinforcement can help to build momentum and motivation.

Motivate the team on a meet of sporting event or refresh the team at a hill station in free environment to assess the clear feedback by interaction with the groups. Create challenging areas to be achieved. Get a task force of few selected once to lead the team on Mission mode with clear objectives

I think the most important thing is to take the employee with you. They need to know where things are going, understand the big picture and be able to comprehend tasks. A logical and solution-oriented approach is therefore particularly useful.

Understand that there’s two types of motivation: “extrinsic” (forces external to the employee, like bonuses or recognition) and “intrinsic” (forces internal, like sense of accomplishment or becoming an expert at something). Understanding that leaders—while they may be able to provide some semblance of extrinsic motivation—really should be focused on cultivating a culture where team members feel motivated from within. It’s like a gardener with their crops: they don’t say “GROW!” To the plants, but manage the soil, ensure there’s enough sunlight and water, remove weeds and pests that can stop growth, etc. smart leaders focus on the context so employees can grow in their own.

Leading by example sets the right tone for the team. Leaders who demonstrate commitment, ethical behavior, and a strong work ethic inspire their teams to emulate these qualities. Promoting work-life integration is crucial for employee engagement leadership. Recognizing that employees have personal lives outside of work and supporting a balance between professional and personal responsibilities contributes to overall engagement.