Ten Techniques for Motivating Others through Chaos

The work environment has changed. Change has become
the norm. Also the truth level of employees has decreased.
This can lead to increased dissatisfaction and decreased
productivity.

Here are ten techniques for motivating your employees to
succeed during chaos:
1. Take Care of the Little Things
Doing the little things well will show that your respect your
employees. Making sure you are on time for meetings,
saying “good morning” and “thank-you,” and returning
phone calls and e-mails in a timely manner goes a long way
to showing your employees that you care during chaotic
times.

2. Be an Active Listener
Recent research stated that the average supervisor or
manager only invests two hours per year applying “pure
listening” skills. Pure listening is when you are listening to
your employee you are not:

* Multitasking
* Ordering your lunch
* Watching people walk by your office.
* Answering telephone calls
* Setting up appointments

To be a pure listener you must be an active listener. Good
managers do more than pay attention. They genuinely care
about people and never talk down to them. They ask their
employees about their goals and dreams, their past
achievement, their concerns and challenges during this
chaotic time. They listen with their hearts and minds. They
respect the employee’s thoughts and opinions. They realize
that the employees sometimes have the best answer for
achieving more through chaos.

3. Walk your Talk
If you expect your employees to arrive early, then you arrive
early. If you expect your employees to keep their promises,
you keep your promises. If you want your employees to
keep to high standards, you keep to high standards.
Your employees are watching you even when you don’t
think they are watching you. So set the tone. Once you
walk through the doors of your organization make sure you
are positive and upbeat if you expect your employees to be
positive and upbeat.

4. Let People Know They Make a Difference
At the top of many lists of what motivates employees, more
than money, is knowing that they make a difference at work.
One of the most powerful methods of letting your employees
know they make is difference is…praise (Go to article
Appreciate to Motivate to learn how). The praise should
relate to how the employee helps achieve the overall mission
of the organization.

5. Communicate Clearly
Communicate so that others understand what you want to
achieve. Adapt your communication to the audience you are
speaking. Constantly communicate your vision and goals so
that there are no misunderstandings. The clearer the vision,
the clearer the communication, the clearer the opportunity for
success.

6. Help Employees Succeed
People go to work to succeed, not fail. It is your job to
understand your employee’s strengths and weaknesses so
that you can put them in the best position to succeed. If, for
example, you find out that an employee is lacking in a certain
skill set to succeed during a change then provide the
coaching and training to make them and your organization
successful. The best managers minimize or eliminate their
employees weaknesses and while building on their
strengths. Remove any and all barriers to success.

7. Focus Your Team on the Goal.
Focus your employees on the end result, the overall team
goal. Once you successful communicate this your team will
band together to defeat any obstacles that get in the way.

8. Create High Standards
High-performance organizations set high standards for their
people. Employees want to know what is expected of them,
how their performance is measured, and what rewards they
can expect when they exceed the standard. Make sure the
standards are consistently applied to each employee. Make
sure each employee understands how the standards are
measured so that they know how to reach it. As each
plateau is reached, set new goals.

9. Help Your Employees Compete and Win
Develop goals that help all your employees excel. Make
your goals inclusive not exclusive. This means that
everybody is working together and wins together. Have your
employees complete against the goal, not each other.
10. Reward Outstanding Achievement
Find ways to recognize your achievers in a public way. The
more you reward employees for excellent achievement, the
more you receive more of the same behavior. Make sure you
are consistent with the way you contribute rewards to your
employees. Very important, make use you communicate
exactly why the employee is being rewarded. And last,
reward as soon as possible to the action.

Some of the ways you can show recognition are:

* Idea board
* Initiative Board
* Star Spotlight
* Certificates
* Gift cards
* Say thank-you
* Lunch

Apply these techniques and you will achieve your goals
during the most challenging of times.

Ed Sykes is a professional speaker, author, and leading expert in the areas of leadership, motivation, stress management, customer service, and team building. You can e-mail him at mailto:esykes@thesykesgrp.com, or call him at (757) 427-7032. Goto his web site, http://www.thesykesgrp.com,and signup for the newsletter, OnPoint, and receive the free ebook, "Empowerment and Stress Secrets for the Busy Professional" and/or "Secrets of Outstanding Customer Service."