5 Things You Can Do (For Free) to Motivate Your Staff

Originally posted on www.cnmsocal.org.

Making sure you have a motivated and happy team doesn’t have to be expensive. Here are a few things you can do for your staff that don’t cost more than a little bit of time.

1. Thank them.
You work hard and so does your staff. Let them know that you appreciate them, and be as specific as possible. While general thank yous are nice, there’s definitely more impact behind a thank you to a specific person for something specific that they did.

2. Learn more about them.
Great teams are built on a solid foundation of trust, and trust can only be built over time and as you get to know someone personally and professionally. While you should never pry or get too personal, there are some innocuous questions you can ask that will reveal a lot about a person. Things like:

• What did you do over the weekend?
• Do you have any hobbies?
• What did you want to be when you were little?
• Describe your perfect day off.

3. Ask them about their path.
While it’s possible that everyone on your team is in their dream job at their dream organization, it is highly unlikely. Ask your staff where they see themselves in 3 years, 5 years, 10 years, and see how you can help them get there. Remember – developing an employee is important, especially in our sector, even if they eventually leave. A developed employee is more likely to do better work for you while they are there; speak highly of your company to stakeholders, donors, potential future employees, etc.; and go on to do important work in another organization, which could have an impact on your organization and your community.

4. Have some fun.
On a typical day at CNM, you will hear lots of laughing, see lots of smiling, and perhaps even participate in some dancing. We have a lot of fun here, which in turn helps us get a lot of work done. If your staff is usually stressed and frowning, try mixing things up a bit. Create some fun competition, have a potluck lunch, schedule time for exercising, and in general just lighten up. Ask your staff what would help them have more fun – they will most likely come up with the idea, plan it, and execute it without you even having to do anything. Sometimes all a person really needs is the permission.

5. Encourage breaks.
Continuing on that idea of permission…some offices have a culture of all work and no play. I’ve seen places where staff felt bad taking their state-mandated meal and rest breaks. Being chained to a desk is not good for your employees and it’s not good for the company. Encourage your staff to eat lunch outside, take a 20 minute nap in their car if they are tired, and get up and walk around for a minute every few hours.