If I wanted to motivate my team members as a project manager I would want to talk to them about what motivates and try to act on that. This is because what each team member needs to be motivated will be different and not one approach can appeal to everyone. I also think that it is important for the project manager to be motivated as without the project manager being engaged it can be easy for the project team to be demotivated.
Suppose you are a project manager in a medical industry. What are some ways you would motivate the team members you are managing? Does a project manager’s level of motivation affect the team's productivity and motivation level? Explain.
As a team member, it is really important to me to know that my effort is appreciated and that I am getting feedback on my work. For example, my project manager usually meet with us in a morning and night huddle where he discusses the tasks for the day and what milestones that we need to meet. He also sums up the milestones that was met and how it affects the project. Even though, sometimes we face rough days, where taking a break is challenging because of the work load, when you hear how that affects peoples' life specially in the medical field, charges the energy of the time and keeps every team member ready and charged again to push forward.
I do believe the project manager's level of motivation has a large and direct impact on the rest of the project team. Team members look up to the manager as their leader and the culture of the team ultimately stems from the project manager's overall attitude toward the project. In order to motivate others, the project manager must first gain the respect of the team by forming personal relationships. That way, the project team is more willing to buy into what the project manager has to say. Once those personal relationships and overall trust are established, the manager can find ways to motivate his or her team. The reason why these relationships with team members are important is because motivational techniques are not one size fits all. Some people respond better to competitive techniques and being pushed to their limits while others prefer more gentler approaches. Knowing the type of employee that you are dealing with is very important to keeping everyone on the project team focused and motivated.
I agree with what the previous users have mentioned before in the topic. It is very crucial to motivate the team and also yourself as if the team is not motivated enough then things will not get completed. The work will be duty to them rather than a passion. Work has to have a much deeper effect on the mindset of the project personnels. Monetary incentives, public recognitions are couple of rewards which people look forward to. Having a healthy competition among the staff is also a good practice such that work gets done faster. The project personnels have to be motivated enough by their respective project managers and also should be rewarded whenever a task is finished before the timeline which is allotted to them. Self motivation is also a very important as there will be times where it is very much required to uplift yourself up.
There are several ways a project manager could follow so that every member in the team is motivated. Personally, I think communication is the main key in team motivation. What I mean by communication is the project manager’s way of speaking, giving tasks, giving feedback etc., The project manager (in this case is me) should know how to communicate with each member in the team because people’s characters are not the same in the work environment. Knowing how to communicate with each team member that has a different character and personality will certainly lead to team motivation. Another way to motivate teams in my opinion is fair workload distributing. Each team member in the team should have a task to perform and a workload that is equivalent to another member in the team. Giving more tasks to a teammate while giving less tasks to another teammate will lead to a lack of motivation in the team as one of the team members may feel unreliable to handle a task. Moreover, the project manager or I should be more clear about the vision, message and goals the team must accomplish so that the team is motivated to achieve these goals and reach to the required vision. If vision and goals were not clear, team members efforts and time could be wasted which again will lead to a lack in motivation in team members. Last of all, a project manager must encourage members to cooperate and work together as a true team. Teamwork makes team members share their ideas and experiences, and it could lead them to avoid tunnel visioning which will definitely motivate them as tasks and goals are accomplished faster with less efforts.
The energy of any manager or PM really gets transmitted to each and every team members. I agree to all the posts above that the PM needs to be highly motivated and stay 100% focused to be able to keep the other team members on track. Rewarding members with great work is an excellent way to keep everyone motivated. Rewarding does not always have to be monetary. Sometimes a grand "thank you" in front of others really does the magic. At the same time, if a team member does not do well, criticizing them in front of others will kill all the motivation that was left in that person. So it's very crucial for the PM to try to understand each individual separately and get the best out of them. PM must do criticism in person and not in front of others. Constant communication and positive energy from the managers really bring about the best work out of a team.
Suppose you are a project manager in a medical industry. What are some ways you would motivate the team members you are managing? Does a project manager’s level of motivation affect the team's productivity and motivation level? Explain.
Some ways I would motivate my team will be with a bonus if the project is completed on time with little to no issues. I don't think a party would motivate the team to do well, but some extra money would make them want to work harder. Another way I would motivate my team is to have a raffle at the end of the project, which will only be available to the top 5 performers on the team. This will make people work harder since they would want to win the raffle in the end. I believe a project manager's level of motivation affects the team's productivity. If the team members see the project manager always in a good mood and working hard, the team will also work hard after seeing the manager do so.
I really like this thread and keeping everyone positive and I agree with everyone saying that the project manager's motivation level is paramount to keeping the team on task and keeping everyone motivated. Some key ways that I would implement are out-of-work team bonding activities such as happy hour and a place where everyone can bond and be motivated for the work that they are doing. I believe that there is a benefit to going out and mingling with your colleagues outside of work and being able to communicate with each other without the constant pressure of being professional. This allows real dissonance and grievances and organic team bonding to occur, rather than in company-sponsored team-building activities.
Motivation from projects comes from the PM themself. If they are sluggish, it can bring down the energy for the whole team or if they are very hasty it can make team members less enthusiastic to reach out and communicate.
Additional motivation comes too from the team feeling cohesive and included. This once again comes from the project manager, where they need to address the entire time on what the goals are, how the team can reach them, and also do ice breakers so the team knows one another and is comfortable. I feel like the teams i have been on that are really cohesive and we all know each other along with knowing made working more enjoyable and having a leader that also included themselves but didnt belittle us, instead said we are a team and that if one of us falls we are all there to help. Those kind of leaders motivate the team to know they have support and it makes the atmosphere overall enjoyable to work in.
As a project manager it is important to keep team motivation high in order to drive project success. I think one of the important ways a PM can accomplish this is through leading by example through productivity, morality, and good decision making. Demonstrating the behavior you expect in your team will help inspire them to act the same way. As everyone is human first, I think it also helps to be understanding and flexible with your team member (i.e. understanding of PTO and slight changes in deadlines). Also, the ability to grow and progress in a career is great motivation to work hard on a project team. Offering career growth opportunities is a fantastic way to keep your team motivated as well as further develop your team to achieve future success. Lastly, I think inspiring and cultivating team work and good communication helps create a great team environment for everyone involved and can inspire great motivation amongst the team to achieve project goals/deadlines.
A project manager’s attitude and level of motivation can significantly affect the team’s productivity and motivation level. It is crucial for a project manager to be passionate and motivated so that the team they are assigned to can perform their best. Some ways that project managers can help motivate team members is recognition and possibly a reward. For example, project managers may be able to offer a bonus or a promotion based on the quality and progress of the project. Other ways that can help motivate team members is by setting clear goals and expectations. This helps the team understand what exactly they are working towards and this will help them keep them focused on the task at hand. It is important for project managers to effectively communicate so that they understand their own roles and responsibilities. Lastly, it is important for project managers to encourage collaboration and teamwork to create a positive work environment. If a project manager is not motivated, this would negatively affect the team’s morale and most likely the project team would not perform to the best of their abilities. If the project manager is not passionate and unmotivated, then they can not expect the team members to be.
Similar to what my peers have been saying, the project manager's level of motivation definitely impacts the team's productivity and motivation for the project. If you have a PM that doesn't care much for their project and they make it very obvious, it is easy to pick up on that energy and have it affect you. They may submit their items very close to or after deadlines that may impact your work as well. However, when you have a PM that cares about the project and motivates the rest of the team members, it can be a better experience. I'd like to be someone who likes to come into work. I've been in a situation where due to the PM, I've dreaded coming in or interacting with them. They weren't unmotivated as they were on top of the work, but they lacked the social skills to kind of be "human" about it. In a sense, they only cared about it being completed the exact way they want it without helping me when things were out of my control (unresponsive senior employees). If I was a PM, I would show compassion in these sorts of situations and offer to speak to the senior employee. I would reassure my team that I appreciate their contributions and that I will help as much as I can with any communication issues.
