Our 10 tips for encouraging and motivating your team

As a manager, you should be encouraging your employees to ensure their commitment, motivation and operational productivity on a daily basis. But what motivational levers should be put in place? Here are our ten tips for compassionate and effective team encouragement.  

1) Empower your teams

Giving more autonomy to employees can boost team commitment, self-confidence and motivation. The manager should not hesitate to delegate tasks, encourage initiative and involve each employee in decision-making processes and strategic reflection phases. A participative management style should thus be introduced to place each employee on an equal footing and to break hierarchical links. This horizontal management style is particularly effective for increasing motivation, performance, innovation and creativity.  

2) Value, praise and reward

Another very simple way to encourage teams is to value both collective and individual actions and initiatives. To do this, the manager must regularly show gratitude, congratulate and reward the efforts of each individual. These rewards can take the form of a thank-you speech, bonuses, days off, compensation for overtime worked, gift vouchers, salary increases, etc. However, care must be taken to remain fair and unbiased in order to avoid favouritism – a potential source of conflict.  

3) Conduct informal discussions

In order for teams to feel motivated on a daily basis, it is essential to reinforce their sense of belonging to the company and to establish a bond of trust and proximity. This requires regular informal exchanges: team dinners, after-work events, company events, group activities, seminars, sports activities, creative workshops, etc. The manager must also take an interest in the lives of their employees, as well as their professional and personal ambitions. This allows them to foster a more convivial atmosphere, strengthen bonds, better know their teams and familiarise themselves with the needs, expectations and aspirations of each individual.  

4) Listen to your employees

To  encourage employees, it is essential to take note of their fears and sources of discouragement. The manager must be available, facilitate dialogue through a climate of trust, and encourage teams to feel free to express themselves. They must also provide constructive and benevolent feedback during individual meetings with each employee. Here again, a collaborative leadership style, which places well-being and the human being at the core, should be favoured. In team motivation, it is vital to give meaning to work. In fact, it is not uncommon for an employee's demotivation to stem from a loss of meaning and interest in their professional life. It is the role of the manager to convey the company's culture to employees with strength and conviction, by aligning with the values of the organisation and adapting a management style consistent with the corporate culture.  

6) Demonstrate leadership and example

To remain committed and motivated, teams need to be united by a charismatic and dynamic leader who sets an example and inspires respect. The manager must therefore show leadership, benevolence and natural authority to encourage teams. They must also possess certain indispensable qualities such as optimism, good stress management, benevolence, humility, relational and emotional intelligence, enthusiasm, adaptability and operational excellence. This kind of know-how will naturally generate commitment and motivation in the team.  

7) Communicate the company's objectives and vision well

Any employee will easily feel discouraged when faced with a list of vague, unattainable or even unrealistic objectives. This is why the manager must make sure to set SMART objectives (Specific, Measurable, Acceptable, Realistic and Time-bound). They must also ensure that they share the company's vision with teams, enabling all stakeholders to build a clear, strong and stimulating common objective.  

8) Strengthen team cohesion

Strong team cohesion is another key motivational lever. Although each employee must make an effort to work in harmony with their peers, the manager can also implement several actions to strengthen the bonds between colleagues: organising teambuilding activities, ensuring fluid and close communication via intranet tools and regular exchanges, encouraging interaction, promoting collaborative work and exchanges, and creating a friendly and benevolent work atmosphere, for example.  

9) Ensure the quality of life at work

Motivation inevitably depends on a good quality of life at work and professional fulfilment. To improve the well-being of teams, the following actions can be taken:

• Instal comfortable workspaces that foster productivity (spacious, bright and pleasantly decorated offices).
• Ensure a good balance between professional and personal life.
• Establish a pleasant, positive and warm atmosphere.
• Demonstrate adaptability to the personal constraints of each individual.
• Propose the implementation of part-time or full-time teleworking.
• Offer fair wages, decent working hours, vacations, etc.

 

10) Help your employees evolve

To encourage teams, it is also the responsibility of the line manager to offer employees professional development opportunities and to train them in new skills to help them reach their professional goals. In particular, it is important to ensure that salaries and job titles are aligned with the level of responsibility of employees.