Most of us enjoy to indulge a little when celebrating successes and offering a slice of cake to meeting attendees will definitely increase the turnout rate, but as Productivity Ninja teams, is an occasional slice of cake really the driver of our motivation?
The answer is probably “not really”. The slice of cake in itself is a nice frosting (see what we did there?) but the motivational factor lies within the message behind the cake. A cake is a nice gesture, but unless you can fit a whole message on it, there still needs to be more for your team to feel inspired and motivated after. “What can you do to keep your team motivated” you might ask. Sit tight, we’ve got some answers for you.
1.Celebrating Success
When life gets busy, we often forget to pause, take a step back, look at what we’ve achieved and celebrate. As a manager, one of your key responsibilities is to make sure you and your team take the time to recognize a “good job” and celebrate wins. Here at Think Productive, we use our “Kudos” slack channel to recognize our fantastic team and their work. At HQ, we also start our weekly team meetings with sharing our “big wins of the week”. Those big wins don’t have to be all work related either. Your team will appreciate support in important life events and personal development wins can go a long way towards making your employees feel valued. Letting your team know you care about them as a person, as well as the work they do is an important part of keeping your staff happy and motivated.
2.Treats & More
As mentioned earlier, we haven’t seen a lot of teams who wouldn’t appreciate a slice of cake every now and then but there’s more to it. Success in your team and organization is deeply rooted within the people in your organization. When you hire brilliant people, great work will be created and amazing things will happen. Salaries play a crucial part in motivating your team, but everybody appreciates a pat on the back every now and then. Know Phil from HR really likes those chocolate biscuits and he’s just delivered a phenomenal report? Why not run down to the shops, grab some biscuits and head over to his desk telling him what a wonderful job he’s delivered? Has Annie from accounting been really supportive in a recent project? Tell her to get out of the office early and enjoy the sun while it’s out.
You don’t have to throw money and cake at your team to ensure they’ll stick around, a simple “Thank you” can go a long way. In fact, in a study conducted by Dan Airely in his book Payoff: The Hidden Logic That Shapes Our Motivations – research showed that when presented with 3 different rewards in exchange for completing a task; free pizza, a compliment from the boss, or a cash price – most employees chose the compliment.
3. Go Public
As much as people will appreciate an email from their manager, we’re all human and there’s a part of us that wants everyone to know we’re successful. When appropriate and possible, give praise in public. Whether that’s in a team meeting or in a virtual setting like Slack, is up to you and your team. Bring it up at your next meeting and see what people feel most confident with.
So, while cake in the office is a nice touch, often a simple ‘thank you’ can be all the more sweeter, with none of the calories!
What’s your favorite way of motivating yourself and/or your team? Let us know in the comments below or @thinkproductive with #ProductivityNinja
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By Caitlin Fox
Caitlin is Think Productive’s Content Manager and Executive Assistant. She is also the voice behind our Instagram account.