Category Archives: Motivation

Carrot or Stick?

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“So, what’s the difference between motivation and manipulation?” I asked.

“My kid is in the back seat of the car, and I ask him to put on his seat belt. I tell him that if he puts it on, we will go get ice cream as a reward.

“What is it? Motivation or manipulation?” The class sits on the question. Several want to leap out of their chairs with the answer, but they know it will make them a target for the discussion.

“My kid is in the back seat of the car, and I ask him to put on his seat belt. I tell him that if he doesn’t put it on, he won’t be able to play on the computer tonight.

“What is it? Motivation or manipulation?”-TF
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Which is It?

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From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:

How can you motivate a team member whose appraisal has not been good?

Response:

In the past, I have talked about the four elements for success. They are:

  • Capability
  • Skill
  • Commitment
  • Absence of a negative Temperament

So, which is it? And how did you get here?

If the person received a poor effectiveness review, is it a matter of capability? As the manager, you should have made an accurate (within a reasonable range) assessment of capability during the interview and testing process. If the person received a poor review based on capability, you have only two choices, reassign the person or redefine the role.

If the poor review is from a lack of skill, then training is indicated. Skill is two things, technical knowledge and practiced performance.

If the poor review is from a lack of commitment, you, as the manager have two routes. One is to create artificial commitment. Artificial commitment comes in the form of pizza, promises or other incentives. Artificial commitment is okay, but is usually shortlived and requires the presence of the manager. Real commitment requires the discovery of the interests (passion) of the person and the alignment of that interest with the work. If that connection has not been made, poor performance is a likely result.

If the poor review is from the presence of a negative temperament, you, as the manager can talk until you are blue in the face, or perhaps bash your head into the wall for a while, but in the long run, negative temperament is rooted inside the individual. It takes a very special manager (and a blue face and some head bashing) to change a negative temperament. This is usually outside the skill base of most managers. In this case, I would seek to reassign or terminate the team member.

So, you decide. Which is it? -TF

Who’s Best Interest

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“Speak in terms of the other person’s interests.” Those words rattled around in Susan’s head for a minute. Finally she spoke.

“But, you know, sometimes, there is stuff that I need to communicate. Sometimes there is stuff that is in my interest, or the company’s interest. What do I do then? I mean, it’s all well and good to talk about the other person’s interests, but what about me, what about the company?”

“Susan, you make it sound like your team doesn’t have you or the company at heart. In fact, they do. Let’s take the issue of efficiency. It is in your best interest as the manager and in the company’s best interest for your team to work efficiently, right?”

“Exactly,” Susan replied, moving to the edge of her chair. “I want to talk about efficiency, so how do I talk in terms of the other person’s interests when I want to have a discussion about efficiency?”

“First, Susan, understand that your team also wants to be efficient. Believe it or not, your team wants to be productive and do a good job. They want to do a good job for you and the company. And it is your responsibility, as the manager, to make that connection.

“Gather your team together. Divide them in workgroups of two or three people and tell them the topic for the day is efficiency.

“Today’s topic for discussion is efficiency. But before we talk about how we can be more efficient, let’s talk about why. For the next one minute, work in your teams and write down three benefits that happen when we work more efficiently. The benefits you think about, should be personal benefits to you. You spend 8 hours a day working here and you work hard. What are the personal benefits to you when the team works more efficiently?”

Susan looked at me, then pulled out a sheet of paper. “Let me write that down,” she said.

The Picture of the Team

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“It’s amazing,” Megan explained. “I gave them the camera and a list of the 13 steps of the process and walked away. I didn’t supervise the picture taking. Forty five minutes later, they called me back. Think about that. My team has never called me over to their work area.

“They were talking about the best sequence for the steps, the proper way to perform some of the tasks and even one step that they thought was unnecessary. They have never talk about stuff like this, never ever.”

Now it was my turn to smile. “So, as their manager, what are you going to do next?”

“Well, they are re-shooting some of the pictures, but then I am going to print them all out and post them in this photo album I bought. I am also sending the photos over to the training department so they can put them into a powerpoint.

“But the best picture,” Megan grinned, “was the picture of the team that goes on the front of the photo album. With the look on their faces, I think they actually like working here.”

Conscious Choice

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From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:

I was curious about a study in IT that showed that while managers can see underperformance, they can’t see who is over-performing.

Response:

Actually, the results of the study may be correct, however, the conclusion may be flawed.

The results show that managers easily recognize or identify underperformance, but they do not as easily recognize or identify over-performance. The conclusion is that managers do not have the ability to recognize over-performance. I believe that to be false.

Managers do not recognize or identify over-performance because they do not focus on it. Managers allow the distractions of underperformance to dominate their vision and efforts.

It is simply a matter of focus. It is a conscious choice to focus on over-performance, and once that decision is made, the focus becomes quite natural. But it’s that choice that is difficult. It is too easy (unconscious) to see things wrong and too difficult to make the conscious choice to see things going right. -TF

The Hand or the Back of the Hand?

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This question was in response to the study that showed larger improvements from high performing team members than lower performing team members as a result of positive reinforcement.

Question:

Is this because the high performers were actually severely underemployed or because they were more talented or some other reason?

Response:

I am certain there were many individual reasons for the dramatic uplift in performance. The point of the story is that, often, we, as managers, spend time with our problem team members instead of our high performing team members.

And when we spend time with our poor performers, it drags us away from positive reinforcement toward negative or punitive reinforcement. Between the two types of reinforcement, positive and negative, which is more likely to bring out the best in people? -TF

Where Do You Spend Your Time

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From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:

What is the incentive to the person who performs at a higher level than the status quo, if they are rewarded the same?

Response:

While this sounds like a simple question, it is actually quite complicated. While I am not a fan of performance bonuses, I am a fan of differential pay bands for those who are more effective than others. Simply put, people should not be rewarded the same.

There should be different consequences. But the most powerful consequence may not be compensation.

A study was conducted with a group of factory workers. One group produced a high level of product each day (avg 94), the other group produced a lower level (avg 76). The manager was instructed to change two things.

First, each day, post the personal productivity of individual team members. Second, any team member who improved one day to the next, received a complimentary remark from the manager. No pizza, no bonus, no extra time off, just a complimentary remark.

At the conclusion of the study, the low performing group had improved from (avg 76) to (avg 84). Everyone was quite pleased.

The high performing group improved from (avg 94) to (avg 146).

Most managers end up spending time with their poorest performers. Where is the real payoff? -TF

Courage

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From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:

I need your advice. Yesterday, my manager called me in and shouted at me for a mistake I made in an Excel spreadsheet. He berated me to the point where I just felt sad. I felt so sad, in a way, that I couldn’t bear to be with the company any longer and asked to resign. I stated the reason was the unprofessional behavior of my manager. At the exit interview, they seemed not to care. What should I have done instead to help them realize that working under those circumstances is not healthy?

Response:

It took courage to make your decision. Write this down, for it will guide you in the future.

You stand for what you tolerate.

You made a decision that you would not tolerate being bullied. You made a decision that you will be treated with dignity and respect even when you make a mistake. Remember this lesson as you grow through life, for some day, you will be in a position to hold someone else accountable for their mistake. Remember how you were treated and the result.

If you want someone to resign from their job, then treat them poorly.

However, if you want someone to understand their mistake and correct the circumstances so that it is less likely to happen again, then treat them with dignity and respect.

As you search for your new job, hold your head high and ask questions about the culture of the company. You have learned a lesson on the kind of organization you will seek out in the future. -TF

Works on the Inside

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Jamie met me in the break room, where I was trying to make an executive decision between the hazelnut or European blend coffees.

“I have been thinking about what you said,” Jamie started. We had been discussing how teenagers can sit for hours in front of a computer game, maintain an aggressive level of interest, solve complex problems and achieve a high level of achievement, without the traditional elements of motivation we think about at work.

“At first, I thought about how I could make work more like a game,” she said, “but I stopped, because work isn’t a game. It is real, with real accountabilities and real consequences. And that is when it hit me.

“As a manager, I try to do all this up-front stuff trying to get my team motivated to get the work done. But it’s not the stuff I do up-front. It’s more in the consequences. I need to focus more on the consequences. I need to focus more on what happens after the behavior, than what happens before the behavior.

“Like what?” I asked.

“Like noticing that they show up on time. Making a fuss about their work area when it is straight and orderly. Celebrating the small successes in the day, when we get an order out the door. Making progress visible as we work through the day. Having the team do some of their own quality inspections and taking corrective action before the QC department gets involved. Making sure we take note when we hit certain levels of competence. And recognizing the big stuff when we master it.”

“What do you think the big difference is?” I asked.

“All the stuff we do before is external. It’s outside the person. The stuff we do after, works internal, it works inside the person.”

Competence and Mastery

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Jamie was quiet for a minute. Then, she slowly repeated herself. “In the mind of my son, he is part of something bigger than himself, trying to achieve certain levels in the game. As he makes progress, he gets real-time feedback (automatically), so he can adjust his play. When he makes the level, there is a small electronic celebration on the screen.”

“And, how does your son feel about himself when he is playing this computer game?” I asked.

“It must feel good. As silly as it may seem, he has a sense of accomplishment.”

“Is there any time when he feels frustrated or challenged?”

“Oh, yes, sometimes he won’t even come down for dinner, because he is working through something so intently. He has to try and try and try until he finally gets it.”

“And then he comes to dinner?”

Jamie smiled. “Yes, then he comes to dinner. He says it’s okay, now. He has reached a certain level in the game and he can take a breather. Sometimes, he will stay away from the game for a couple of days.”

“Jamie, I want you to think about your son and his motivation and see how you could apply that at work, with your team. I want you to think about challenge, real time feedback, personal control and correction, achievement of goals, competence and mastery. Let’s meet tomorrow and talk about your ideas.” -TF