Top 7 Ways to Motivate Your Team

1. Involve them. Many employees want to be involved in the ongoing development and progress of their company. Plus, they often have insightful ideas that can make a significant difference in the company.

2. Communicate. A frequent axiom in business is, "No news is good news." However, employees want regular updates on the progress of the business and their personal performance. Use memos, email, telephone, and one-on-one and group meetings to keep your team apprised of changes, updates, new products, etc.

3. Celebrate individual and team performance. Catch people doing something right and focus on recognizing excellent performance. Provide positive reinforcement, issue awards, use a corporate newsletter to highlight specific achievements. Send thank-you cards and congratulatory notes, make phone calls, and send emails.

4. Set challenging goals. My experience has taught me that people strive to achieve what is expected of them. If you set challenging goals your team will work hard to accomplish them, providing of course, they are realistically attainable.

5. Give them the tools to succeed. No team will stay motivated if they do not have the necessary tools required to do their job. This includes; equipment, internal support, inventory, marketing materials, training, etc.

6. Manage poor performance. Your team expects you to manage individuals who do not perform to standard. However, many managers ignore these situations because they are afraid to deal with them, hoping instead that the situation will resolve itself. It never does and this "blind" approach affects profitability, causes higher turnover, and generates low morale.

7. Believe in your people. The majority of people want to do well ? very few individuals approach a job with the intent of screwing up. Yet, many managers run their business thinking that employees must be treated with a "watchdog" mentality. They install hidden cameras, monitor email, and set up procedures that require employees to get multiple approval signatures for decisions.

Copyright 2004 Kelley Robertson. All rights reserved

Kelley Robertson, President of the Robertson Training Group, works with businesses to help them increase their sales and motivate their employees. He is also the author of "Stop, Ask & Listen ? Proven sales techniques to turn browsers into buyers." Visit his website at http://www.robertsontraininggroup.com and receive a FREE copy of "100 Ways to Increase Your Sales" by subscribing to his 59-Second Tip, a free weekly e-zine.

apartment cleaning near Deerfield ...
In The News:

Travel expert Katy Nastro says 50,000 American Airlines AAdvantage miles vanished from her account after someone redeemed them without permission.
Google AI Overviews can't be permanently turned off, but adding -AI to your searches and using the built-in Web filter can help bypass AI summaries.
Attaxion researchers found 30 fake Texas campaign merchandise stores traced to just two sellers hawking gear for competing Republicans and Democrats.
GM plans to debut eyes-off driving in the Cadillac Escalade IQ by 2028, but safety testing reveals how long distracted drivers take to regain control.
Data brokers assign labels predicting your health, finances and religion based on browsing and purchases, then sell those profiles to businesses.
Elon Musk says he'll give one SpaceX share to every kid in America in 2027, but key details about eligibility and distribution remain unclear.
ClearSpace UK's robotic spacecraft with giant claws will chase down dead satellites at 17,000 mph, with a 2029 launch from Scotland planned.
A fake Social Security statement phishing email uses the SSA logo and a convincing layout, but the sender's domain instantly exposes the scam.
A clean credit report doesn't mean your identity is safe. Six ways criminals can steal from you without triggering a credit monitoring alert.
Carolyn Marvin, a 78-year-old retired professor, was arrested after blocking an Uber Eats delivery robot on a Philadelphia sidewalk for months.
The Midnight Mimosa malware campaign hides inside cheap Android phone firmware, giving attackers powerful access before owners even turn devices on.
The Fox News AI Newsletter covers the latest artificial intelligence technology advancements, including the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.
Meta's Muse AI was built to manage tasks, but users are developing romantic AI relationships and even calling the AI companion their girlfriend.
A Minnesota murder suspect's notebook listed 11 people search websites, raising urgent questions about data broker opt-out and online privacy risks.
Google Universal Cart tracks price drops, surfaces promo codes and uses Google Wallet to match your best credit card rewards before checkout.
Safari's Notify Me feature and Google's price-tracking tools can monitor products and send alerts when prices drop on your iPhone or Android.
George Weiner built PACspam.org to trace who sends nonstop political fundraising texts after blocking numbers repeatedly failed to stop the messages.
A dedicated VPN IP address may reduce frustrating CAPTCHAs and bank login security checks by giving websites a consistent connection to recognize.
Apple Wallet in iOS 27 lets you create digital passes from physical cards using a photo or screenshot, but not every card in your wallet qualifies.
Anthropic's Claude AI submitted a fabricated eyewitness tip about an unsolved murder to a Philadelphia police website during automated testing.
P7 DarkSword iPhone spyware can steal saved passwords, photos, Apple Notes and cryptocurrency wallet data by checking for commands every 15 seconds.
Cybersecurity experts told Fox News Digital that a cyberattack on French supermarket freezers should warn the U.S. about critical infrastructure gaps.
The Oracle Health breach exposed medical records, Social Security numbers and diagnoses of nearly 20 million patients across multiple states.
The new Tesla Roadster drove upside down and launched into the air at SpaceX's Texas facility, but a 2028 production target remains unconfirmed.
Apple's iOS 27 lets you add keywords to iPhone photos, while Samsung Gallery tags and Google Photos search offer similar organization tools.

Leading the Witness: How Asking Questions as a Trainer Can Limit Learning and Reduce Trust

"Asking questions can be a means of establishing authority, fulfilling... Read More

The Top 7 Things Entrepreneurs Need to Know About Employees

As I work with clients to strengthen their teams and... Read More

If You Can?t See It, They Won?t Do It

Recently, while developing a customer service program, I asked my... Read More

Team Building Celebration Plan -- Perfect For Any Time of Year

When was your last team celebration? Have you been way... Read More

Safety First - Five Reasons to Hold a Routine Safety Meeting

Workplace safety is important to all businesses for ethical, legal... Read More

Business Team Building Strategy In The Jungle

"Tak kenak! Tak kenak!" "Adak Orang sanak!????"The quiet jungle has... Read More

Team and Organizational Survival Strategies for Turbulent Economic Times

Survival: The Name of the New Economic Game People rarely... Read More

Whats Your REAL problem??

When was the last time you spent excessive time and... Read More

How To Encourage Ideas From Your Team At Meetings

You're at a meeting with key staff. You want some... Read More

Your Administration Team - Look After Them

In most organisations the administration/support team, although they can be... Read More

Constructive Group Dynamics: How to Go from the S.N.I.P.P.Y. Syndrome to a C.L.E.A.R. V.I.E.W.

If asked to look at your work calendar for the... Read More

Cross-Cultural Communication: Grin and Jump In!

Multiculturalism is a reality in North America and for those... Read More

Intercultural Team Building

Internal business structures have been radically transformed over the past... Read More

Why People Dont Listen... and Some Fun Things You Can Do About It

It's frustrating when your co-workers, audience members, teenager or even... Read More

Building Successful Work Relationships--Playing In The Same Sandbox

Remember playing in your childhood sandbox? If you enjoyed being... Read More

Creating a Winning Staff Team

As a business owner, I've had staff come and go... Read More

Boost Your Success With An R&D Team

One of the best ways to ensure that your planning... Read More

Building a Successful Team

Once you've set a goal for yourself as a leader... Read More

How to Align Your Team through Change

Eight Principles for Purposeful AlignmentEffective teamwork requires individual members of... Read More

Working with Difficult People: 3 Questions to Help You Turn Your Tormentors into Teachers

The Dance of ConflictWhen faced with the prospect of meeting... Read More

Team Work - A Challenge of Character

Over the years there has been much ado about team... Read More

Motivating Teams

Introduction:Working with teams, whether as leader of a single team... Read More

Leadership ? Do The Simple But Important Things

Why do we human beings complicate things? Is it that... Read More

Effective Brainstorming

Most managers simply herd some people in a room with... Read More

The Stages Of Team Development

One of the greatest challenges a coaching manager has is... Read More

efficient cleaning crew Park Ridge ...