I’ve been spending some time thinking about the best ways to motivate my team and keep them on track. We’re all located in the same office but have got a lot of other projects to be working on.

One of the first things to look at is the team composition. Who’s involved? What are their objectives? Have they been working together before? Then I’ll ask them what would they have good/ bad for motivating them. Some teams love to have team-building activities and events but others prefer to have more low key events. In some organisations they also give the team time at the start of projects to motivate their teams and build a strong team for the project moving forward.

I then take a look at what’s feasible/acceptable within the organisation and then go from there. Here are some ideas that might work for you:

1. Celebrating achievements/birthdays
   1. I try to do this on a regular basis and make sure that we stop and celebrate the achievement as a team. This could be in a few ways: it could be through bringing in some cakes/ cookies or it could be through formal appreciation depending on the circumstances and type of reward
2. Personal congratulations/comments
   1. I like to make sure that the team are aware that I know that they’ve done a good job
3. Team events/  celebrations:
   1. Towards the end of the project, I like to make sure that as a team we can go out for lunch/drinks as a team and appreciate the success and hard work done by the team
4. Formal appreciation
   1. Most organisations have some sort of formal appreciation that you can provide for team employees that might formally give them recognition for great or outstanding work. I’ve done formal appreciation when colleagues have gone above and beyond their role in the project to deliver exceptional service to the project.
5. Personal thanks
   1. I often say thank you to my team. For their commitment and support in the project but also their support of me as a Project Manager. I am only a success because of their work so I make sure that we respect and celebrate our achievements as a team.
6. Carrot and stick approach
   1. I know that there’s a few Project Managers out there that choose the ‘carrot and stick’ approach for motivating for their team or using ‘threats’ to get them to work in a specific manner but I can honestly say that in every organisation and project that I have worked in, that it has not worked or been a sure sign of success. Teams respect and expect more than being taunted with a ‘stick’

What ways do you motivate with your teams?