Category Archives: Motivation

Like Showing Off for your Mom

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“I really have to find a way to motivate my team,” said Andrea. “Sometimes they are so slow, I just want to scream.”

“Andrea, have you ever heard of Home Field Advantage in sports?” I asked.

“Well, yes. I know it is important, especially in the playoffs.”

“So, what are the real differences for a home team? Is the field any different? Are the rules any different? Is the ball any different?”

“No.” Andrea thought for a minute, then continued. “The crowd, the cheering crowd. The home team usually has a crowd cheering for them.”

“Do you think people perform better when they have a cheering crowd around them?” I asked.

“Of course. It’s kind of like showing off for your Mom.”

“Andrea, here is the bad news. As a manager, you cannot motivate anyone to do anything. Your only play is to create an environment where your team’s performance is like showing off for your Mom.” -TF

You Need to Know

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“It felt a little strange. I am not normally a nosy person,” reported Nicholas. We had been working on the most basic communication skill, talking to one person.

“It’s not being nosy. It’s being a supervisor,” I replied. “Nicholas, you supervise four field technicians. On any given day, what is the biggest issue you have to deal with?”

“I don’t know. A difficult project?”

“No, that is the easy part of supervision. You love to help with difficult projects. The most difficult part of being a supervisor, often, is knowing whether your technicians are going to show up for work, whether they show up on time so you can get the crew started, and what kind of personal baggage they bring to the workplace that is going to influence their attitude.”

“You’re right, especially on Monday.” Nicholas lamented.

“As a supervisor, can you afford to be surprised? If you have a crew of four and two don’t show up for work, you just lost 50 percent of your workforce for the day. If you are the supervisor, you need to know your people well enough to anticipate. At the same time, you need to know what gets your guys jazzed up about things. What motivates them? What interests do they have? What does get them to work on time? What is important in their lives?

“As a supervisor, it is your job to get to know your people, their work habits, their reliability, things going on that will impact their performance on the job. It’s not being nosy. It’s being a supervisor.” -TF

Sweep Them into Action

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“Sometimes, I feel like I am fighting an uphill battle. I call a meeting and explain what I want done. We go over all the details, but it just gives some the chance to rain on the parade.” Camella had a new process she was trying to install out on the floor. “They talk it down in the meeting so it has no chance when it makes it to manufacturing. I know I want to do the right thing and get buy in before we get started, but I feel like I am stalemated.”

“Have you ever reversed the process?” I asked.

“What do you mean?” said Camella, gaining curiosity.

“Sometimes, when I know the explanation is going to draw fire, I just don’t explain. Sometimes, I just sweep people into action. Before anyone has a chance to protest or complain that something won’t work, we have demonstrated that it will work. We don’t have to go through the whole process, just enough to warm the team up to the idea. Then we debrief and go for buy-in, after they have proved to themselves that it will work.” -TF

Moving to a Real Time in the Future

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“Let’s hear the self-talk,” I said.

Lucy began to describe her vision of the project as it would be completed. Her words were tentative. “When we finish the project, the new territory should be ours. The competitors will think twice about ignoring our expertise. The client should have a new-found respect for us.”

“Not bad, for starters,” I said. “I want you to try something different. I want you to pretend the project is already finished. Close your eyes and visualize that we are one day beyond the closing date. Now open your eyes and describe it again.”

It took Lucy a moment for it to sink in. I could see her eyes blink hard as she moved her mind into the future. “We have finished the project and the new territory is ours. The competitors cannot ignore our expertise in this marketplace. The client has a new-found respect for us.”

“Lucy, it is more than just confidence. What else is different when you talk like that?”

“When I transport myself into the future, all of the problems that get in the way and slow us down are gone. All of the hurdles have vanished.”

The power of visualization, to a real time in the future, works to conquer more than problems. It conquers the fear and hesitation of moving forward. -TF

Finding the Energy

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Jessica was talking about her boss, Matthew. Matthew is one of those special people who, in the midst of a problem always seems to see a solution. In a meeting, where an idea may be shot down, Matthew reverses the energy. He says, “I know it is impossible, but if it weren’t impossible, how would we do it?”

What she finds interesting about Matthew is that when he walks in the room, she feels an uncanny ability to conquer any difficulties in her current project.

Stay away from naysayers, and surround yourself with people who are pathologically positive. In this time of national difficulty, we each have to find the energy to make things happen, to solve the problems around us. Find that person who gives you the uncanny ability to conquer difficulty. -TF

PS. I’m-OK.org continues to grow. On Wednesday around 4:30pm MSNBC.com posted a link on their site and our traffic immediately jumped. Lots of people are still looking for people. If you can help by volunteering some time to register evacuees on the site, all you need is an internet connection, a laptop and a sign that says, “I’m-OK.” We will be posting suggestions on the site that might be helpful. Groups of evacuees are landing in different places all over. Please help. For more on this incredible story, check out Tuesday’s post.

Training Magic

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Irene was so proud. She pulled me toward her office, anxious to show me the new training manual she was using out in the service bay.

Busting tires, rather, mounting tires on heavy equipment is hot, sweaty, dirty, thankless work. Done wrong, a number of things can happen and all of them are bad. Irene worked in the training department, hardly a hands-on position, yet, she was expected to create an effective training program.

Her solution. Buy six disposable cameras and have the crew shoot their own pictures of how things should be done and how they should not be done. In all, they shot close to 150 pictures and selected 80 for their training “manual.” The crew gathered around a large table and put the photos in sequence, scrawled captions on 3×5 cards and mounted everything on stiff paper. Irene had the whole collection bound into a 3-ring binder and painted the crew’s name across the cover.

I borrowed the book, with Irene’s permission, and headed for the service bay. As soon as I came through the door, a team member spotted the “manual” under my arm. I motioned an invitation and four of the crew came over. For the next ten minutes, they explained how they had put the book together, which parts were the best and which pictures they had taken.

When was the last time your team got that excited over a training manual? Total cost $160. -TF

Treating Team Members in Color

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Simon moved quickly down the hallway. Morale was down. “I just don’t understand,” he said, “Our hotel managed a five star rating last year. I would think the staff would be proud of what they accomplished.”

“Show me around,” I insisted. “Let me look. I will tell you what I see.”

As we walked, I noticed the posh lobby and beautiful appointments of the hotel. It was truly wonderful. But then, I asked to see the work areas behind the forbidden doors that say Employees Only. That is where it hit me. The contrast was amazing; like we had been transported to a different place on earth. It was clean, but stark. Away from the warm glow in the guest areas, team members were bustling around bare cinder block walls lit by harsh fluorescents. The air was still and clammy. Team members, each, had their name scrawled on a piece of tape slapped on a gray metal locker.

It struck me that we treat our customers in color while we treat our team members in black and white.

Do the surroundings in your workplace have an impact on your productivity? Does beauty in the workplace have a positive impact? Look around your workplace. Are you treating your team members in color or black and white? -TF

One Small Word

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I was sitting in the back of the room, listening to Brian.

“I know you guys have been working hard to meet our quota this quarter, but we still need to do more. That means we work this Saturday.”

I cringed. Brian’s team was launching an impossible product in an impossible market and they were winning. With one word, Brian took their energy and reversed it. He used the word, “but.” With that one word, he told his team that all their hard work was for nothing and because of that, they were going to have to work Saturday.

Change that one word to “and.”

“I know you guys have been working hard to meet our quota this quarter, and we still need to do more. That means we work this Saturday.”

We are still working Saturday, and we acknowledged the effort. Does this make a difference? With my team it does. -TF

Fix What’s Wrong

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“I just wanted to tell you that I have to give my two weeks notice. I found another job that pays more money and I can’t turn it down.” There was an awkward silence as Barbara tried to gather her thoughts to respond to Howard, her best lead technician.

Her first instinct was to find out how much more money and counter the offer, persuade Howard to stay. Patience got the better of her and she replied, “Howard, I know this was a tough decision for you. I also know that decisions like this are complicated and rarely determined by a single factor. You said you were leaving for money, but I have to believe there may be other reasons, too. Since you have made a decision to leave, would you do me a favor and spend some time talking about things we could do differently around here. Your thoughts might make a difference to your other team members.”

Countering an offer for higher wages seldom works. There are usually other more compelling circumstances that drive a team member to another company. As the manager, if you cannot improve those circumstances, more money will only delay the inevitable. First, you have to fix what’s wrong. -TF

Reserve Power

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Saturday was 75 miles downwind into Key Largo and Sunday was 75 miles back, into the teeth of the same blustery wind-gift from the day before. The event was the MS-150 to raise money for Muscular Dystrophy.

At the end of a single day cycling event, the bike is parked, muscles stretched and beer consumed. A multi-day event requires a different strategy, a strategy called Reserve Power.

On the second day, through a particularly gusty stretch, leaning into the handlebars, turning 105 cadence, it occurred to me how often projects go this same way. Anticipated energy and resources are consumed, yet the project continues. Overtime cranks in and phone calls home tell of delayed dinners.

Often in management, we focus on tangible resources, raw goods and machine capacity. An important area we often miss is the management of energy. This is seen in morale, momentum and enthusiasm.

On a bicycle, running out of energy is called bonking, and once bonked, recovery to continue is rare and performance dramatically compromised. As a manager, be aware of the emotional energy of your team. Manage that energy. Build reserve power. -TF