I hear a lot of managers worry about how to motivate people. I don’t think you can motivate people… people create their own motivation. But you can de-motivate people and unfortunately, too many managers do.
Here are some of the de-motivators I see:
- Certificates, awards, ceremonies, and other forced fun
- Relentless deadlines
- Micromanagement
- Withholding information
- Not making time to meet with people individually on a regular basis
- Taking a one-up position
- Ranking
- Carrying poor performers
- Treating people as “resources”
- Dictating rather than including
- Blaming team/system problems on individuals
- Saying one thing and doing another
When managers stop de-motivating, people find their own intrinsic motivation. Here’s an HBR article that outlines actions to create a motivating environment. I’ve also written a bunch about management action to create a motivating environment. Some of those articles are posted on this blog.
