Whether in a business place, school classroom or in the home, motivation strategies that work the best are those that work the longest. Many seminars and classes are held for the purpose of motivating, but only work temporarily. There are ways to achieve long term motivation that will serve to continually reach mutual goals.
It can be said that there are several motivation strategies that are used to achieve goals. These are:
1) Team Work. Peer pressure is often seen as a negative force, but when applied in a team work situation, it can work in an opposite manner. Teams are often formed to accomplish a goal with the idea that peer pressure within the group will result in every member putting their best foot forward; each operating at their optimal levels.
2) Personal Involvement. Enabling an individual or group to set and announce their own goals often has positive results. Verbalizing the intentions is an important aspect of this method, as a commitment to the goal will be realized. Making the goals publicly known creates additional drive, most likely because it is seen as a promise.
3) Job Augmentation. Styling a job so that it has more interest and appeal is one of the motivation strategies not often implemented in the US but common overseas. Performing the same job over and over again results in a monotony that can hardly be counted as motivating. Form a group of individuals who all play a part in the completion of a job cycle, say assembly, where each person rotates jobs in a “cross training” exercise, and motivation increases because interest has now been piqued.
4) Incentives. The idea that providing rewards for a job well done is sound, but can become difficult if the employer’s idea of a reward differs from that of the employee’s. As each person has their own needs that drive motivation, it could be hard to hit upon the right incentives.
5) Exchanges. Exchanges provide one of those motivation strategies that can become convoluted. It is quite similar to offering incentives, only on a more temporary basis. For example, completing a specific job within a time frame could reward the employee with an extra day off. This is often used in the workplace, but there are frequent disagreements as to what a fair exchange actually is.
6) Competition. Sales oriented business use this often. “Be the first to sell 15 cars per week and win a trip to the Caribbean!” Healthy competition is embraced, but not if goals are set too high.
7) Fear. Sadly, motivation strategies employed by a company often include fear of loss of benefits, money and even jobs.
Implementing motivation strategies such as these can help to improve goal achievement. Which type works best is dependent on the type of company, but each has great merit when applied pro