Give your team a powerful boost of motivation!

To me, employee motivation is also about setting a task alight. When the whole team understands why something matters and we work intensely towards the same goal, far more can happen than in an ordinary week. But it requires me to join in the work myself and let people catch their breath afterwards.

Here in June 2010, I’ve been working on lots of things at Amino. I’ve also been looking after the children while my wife was back in Denmark with some friends, and managed to have a bit of a weekend. One of the things we’ve finished is a new internal search on Amino. I’m actually really happy with it. My assessment at this point is that it finds far more of our own results than Google does.

It got me thinking about the difference between an ordinary working day and those periods when you really get people riding a wave. I have good employees, good colleagues and good partners. This isn’t about complaining about them. It’s about the intensity we can create together.

Employee motivation starts with an important goal

You can go to work, have some meetings and do your tasks at a sensible pace. But something different happens when you come in and say: Friends, we’ve got a bloody problem. Or: Bloody hell, I’ve had a great idea we need to make happen.

It might be a competitor doing something that annoys us. It might be a new service or product that matters to the company. If everyone understands why it matters and exactly how they can contribute, suddenly a huge amount can happen.

In the video, I say an ordinary working day might only deliver 25 per cent of what you could achieve with that intensity. That’s my experience and a pointed way of putting it, not a measurement showing employees are being lazy the rest of the time. The point is how much energy a shared goal can release.

And the goal has to be real. Don’t just invent a crisis or a pointless task to make people run faster. It needs to genuinely matter.

Join in the work yourself

For example, you can say: This week, we’re concentrating on this. It simply has to succeed. But then you also need to sit down and help.

Fetch coffee for your colleagues. Order some pizzas. Ask what you can do for them. Make calls, bounce ideas around and help solve the problems blocking the work. If an employee is stuck, ask whether anyone else in the office knows something that could help. If nobody does, use your network and call someone outside.

I’m not a programmer or a graphic designer. But perhaps I can enter something in a spreadsheet, make a list or take some phone calls. Give me some work I can handle so the others can get on with theirs.

I can also be the first to arrive the next morning and bring that sense of urgency back into the work. I mention morning text messages as a way to keep the energy up. People need to feel this matters to the company and we’re in it together.

A few intense days can achieve a lot

My feeling is that, in three, four or five days with that energy, you can achieve something that would otherwise take much longer. I even compare it to three months of ordinary work. That’s how the difference can feel to me when the team really gets moving.

Of course, a period like that also means longer working days. That’s why it needs an ending. When the week is over, toast with champagne, give high fives and show what you’ve made. If statistics or other results can make the success visible, bring them out.

Wish people a really good weekend. Bring something home-baked on Monday morning, or buy something from the bakery, and celebrate the result again. Say: That was bloody lovely. Now let’s slow down for a few days.

People need enough energy for the next round

This isn’t something you should do all the time. Perhaps there should be a fortnight before the next round. It depends on your employees and their lives.

Some younger employees may think it’s great fun to go for it like that. If people have families and children, there are limits to how often they can work late into the evening. You need to take that seriously when creating that atmosphere.

My experience is that many people like working hard towards a clear goal, being rewarded for it and then getting a few days to catch their breath. One, two or three days off can be more attractive than a sum in overtime pay.

Make the reward visible to the family at home

I also think about experiences and gifts that mean something to the individual. Some young programmers might like PlayStation games. Others would prefer a really good restaurant experience or a family trip.

Imagine an employee coming home after a few busy days and saying: We’ve been given a trip to BonBon-Land or Lalandia, with everything paid for. Or: We’re going to Noma, and there’s money for the babysitter too. Then the family shares in the joy of the result.

It could also be some really good bottles of red wine or gifts from a business partner. Then you have something tangible to show at home. My view is that this often creates more joy than an extra amount on the payslip, only part of which you receive after tax. Of course, that’s alongside the normal salary, and the reward needs to have proper value for the employee.

That’s the energy I try to build: A team that really wants to achieve something together. I find people enjoy the work and the quality improves too. More heart and more ideas go into the task when we’re working on a burning platform. But the whole package matters: An important goal, my own help, a visible reward and a chance to rest afterwards. Also read Min vej som leder about my experiences of motivating and leading people.

If you work with a team, get things fired up 🙂 Best wishes, Martin P.S. If you live in North Jutland, take a look at the events for entrepreneurs you can attend – Click here