# Managing Groups and Teams/Motivation In Teams

## Motivation in a Group and Team Environment

Motivation can be the determining factor for the level of success a team
achieves. In most cases, a successful team/group will have been
motivated from start to finish. There are some basic "laws of
motivation" that need to be understood to maximize and keep a team
motivated to achieve.

### **Laws of Motivation**

1.  _An individual has to be motivated in order to motivate
    others_: A person cannot expect to motivate others if
    he/she is not individually motivated. To successfully evaluate what
    is needed to motivate others, it is pertinent to consider the type
    of person that might motivate you. Is this the type of person that
    might arrive before anyone else, who is enthusiastic, positive,
    always has some sort of good news to pass on, is loyal to the group,
    and leads by example? As a member of a group, each person cannot
    expect to move the other members of the group to be motivated if
    he/she not motivated him/herself. If in a group dynamic, there is
    not a single individual that has motivation to perform or to
    complete the purpose of the group, that group is destined to fail.
    Richard Denney states in his book, Motivate to Win, that "if you
    want to motivate another person, you have to be motivated yourself."
2.  _Motivation requires a goal_: Without a
    specific goal in mind, it is impossible for a group or team to be
    motivated. Although they might feel motivated, without a specific
    reason for working or something they are working towards, their
    motivation serves little purpose. Richard Denney points out that
    although this may seem like common sense, it is common sense that is
    not commonly recognized. He also points out that motivation is about
    striving towards the future and without a goal, there is no purpose.
    As an example, consider a team sport where there is no competition
    or league that they can be a part of. What motivation does the team
    have to practice and work as a team. The goal that most team sports
    have is to be the best compared to their competition. If there is no
    one to compete against, there is no reason to compete. The
    motivation to perform is lost. The goal to be the best compared to
    your competition is a vital component of the group or teams
    motivation.
3.  _Motivation, Once Established, Never Lasts_:
    Motivation should be an ongoing process. It cannot be a once a year
    booster. Groups must come together on a frequent basis to discuss
    their strengths and weaknesses and draw up plans of action and
    self-improvement for the future. Conducting a 360-degree appraisal
    as a group can be one way to ensure that each member is staying
    focused and makes necessary adjustments to their behavior. This
    gives each group or team member an opportunity to assess the
    performance and contribution of the other group or team members.
    Group members may need to be trained on this process for it to be
    worthwhile, effective and motivational, but this investment can lead
    to more motivated groups. Just because a group or team is motivated
    today does not mean that they will be motivated tomorrow. It is
    important that groups and teams understand the power of motivation,
    understand themselves as individuals, how they feel and why they
    react the way they do. Group or team members must understand what
    makes them happy or unhappy and what inspires them to do just a
    little bit more. It is also important to understand what demotivates
    individuals and as frequently as possible try to take steps to
    prevent it from happening.
4.  _Motivation Requires Recognition_: People
    will strive harder for recognition than for almost any other single
    thing in life. Consider a parents whose child brings home a picture
    that they have painted at school. If that parent admires the
    picture, shows it to other members of the family and pins it up on
    the wall, they have now motivated that child and may begin to see
    more pictures. A genuine compliment is a form of recognition and it
    takes a thoughtful person to give another a compliment. Small-minded
    people are unable to recognize the achievements of others.
5.  _Participation Motivates_: It is vital to get
    people involved and to seek their opinions. When working in groups
    or teams it is important that an environment is established that
    gives each group member an opportunity to express and share their
    ideas. People who are listened to and are given an opportunity to
    actively participate, are more effective and are more motivated.
    Julian Richer, founder of hi-fi retailer, Richer Sounds, says that
    when he started his company 100 percent of the ideas came from him.
    Now, 90 percent of how the company is run, including its systems and
    procedures, comes from his people. All members of his staff are
    required to give 20 ideas per year for improvement. For each idea
    they are rewarded a minimum amount, that increases based on the
    value of the idea. Every idea presented is given a response within
    three days indicating why the idea could not be implemented or
    whether further action would be taken. The consequence of this was a
    steady stream of innovation, but even more important is that Richer
    Sounds has an incredibly high staff retention rate. There is usually
    a list of people waiting for a vacancy.
6.  _Seeing Progression Motivates_: When
    individuals progress as a group, moving forward and achieving, they
    will always be more motivated. When they are going backwards and not
    making progress, people are naturally less motivated. All members of
    the group must learn from the past, but realize that they cannot
    change it. Instead, they must turn it to their advantage and learn
    from it. Learning to focus on the slightest progress, whatever it
    may be, allows a team to stay motivated. This law must be used,
    worked on, managed and planned in order to maintain a high level of
    motivation.
7.  _Challenge Only Motivates if there is a Potential to
    Win_: If targets for results are set too high, they may
    actually have a de-motivating effect. If the consensus of the group
    or team is that the targets are out of reach or impossible to
    achieve, de-motivation will be the result. Competitions and
    challenges can certainly be motivating and can inspire people to
    greater activity. People will rise to the occasion. Challenge groups
    or teams to get something worthwhile done and nine times out of ten
    they will do it. Sometimes, the work itself is a motivator, such as
    responsibility, challenge or a feeling of doing something
    worthwhile. One can make a person's work more challenging by giving
    them the biggest job they can handle and with this responsibility
    must come some credit of achievement when the job is done.
8.  _Everybody Has a Motivational Fuse_: Everyone
    can be motivated. Everyone has a fuse, it is just a matter of
    knowing how to ignite it. At some point it may not be cost-effective
    to continue trying to motivate a group or team to into greater
    activity or performance. It is a person's attitude to a job that
    makes the difference. A person can quite emphatically state and
    believe that theirs is the worst job humanity has ever created. Yet
    another person taking on that same job with a different attitude
    will say and believe it is a great job and will consider himself or
    herself fortunate to have it.
9.  _Group Belonging Motivates_: People want to
    have a sense of belonging. The smaller the group or team, the
    greater the loyalty, motivation and effort. Extra-curricular
    activities can be used to draw people together.
10. _Inspired Leaders are Motivational_: This is
    not necessarily a manager. Leaders are those that inspire others to
    action. Leaders are willing to take risks, are continually looking
    for new challenges and opportunities. People are much more likely to
    be motivated when there is inspired leadership. Leaders will defend
    others in their group and take full responsibility for criticism.

### **Selected Applications of the Laws of Motivation**

:   _Motivation requires a goal_: One of the
    first steps to motivating a group is identifying the goals and
    purpose of the team and making them clear from the beginning. This
    first step has proven true for many group leaders and members.
    Managers and non-organizer team members can see success when it is
    used and dysfunction and failure when not used. For example: A
    branch manager of an office was charged with finding ways to cut
    costs and run a leaner office. As an office, his team has already
    gone through cost cutting procedures and the results were not seen
    positively by the team. The goal was to break the larger group into
    cross functional teams of three to five members and give them time
    to brain storm within their functional areas. Each group would have
    certain rules and direction. The team leader brought the entire
    group together and explained what they would be doing. He explained
    the plan and outlined the team\'s goals. They discussed the
    reasoning behind the goals; they reviewed the most recent
    performance report and discussed the health of the branch.
    Afterwards and over the next three days the smaller breakout
    sessions were completed. The overall project had great success. They
    came away with many wonderful ideas for cutting costs which were
    implemented in their office as well as many of other offices
    throughout the company. Knowing the goals, understanding, and
    supporting them were huge contributing factors to the success of
    these particular teams. In contrast, members of a team where no goal
    is clearly identifiable typically are not successful. As time passes
    with no overall group goal nor an understanding for the goal; each
    group member begins to realize and push towards individual goals.
    The lack of motivation towards a common goal may break the team
    apart and provide minimal success.\

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:   _Motivation, Once Established, Never Lasts_:
    The next step to motivating a group to an acceptable level of
    success is determining what the group as a whole and individually
    needs, in order to be driven during the entire process. Beyond
    providing a common goal and direction; how does a group organizer
    determine what will motivate her/his group to succeed? The simple
    fact is that in many groups; each team member may require different
    levels or types of motivation to push them to succeed. There are two
    types of motivation that exist: extrinsic motivation and intrinsic
    motivation. Extrinsic motivation is motivation that is inspired by
    outside forces, while intrinsic motivation is motivation that is
    inspired from within a person. Both types of motivation are
    essential to success. Below you will find different types of
    extrinsic and intrinsic motivational factors:

    :   Extrinsic Motivation.

        :   -Bonus
        :   -Peer recognition
        :   -Good grades
        :   -Rewards

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:   

    :   Intrinsic Motivation.

        :   -Happiness
        :   -Personal goals, values, and morals
        :   -Willingness and eagerness to learn
        :   -Physiological, social, and self-esteem needs\

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:   The best idea would be to determine prior to group organization the
    types and levels of motivation each group member will require.
    Assigning group members to teams with similar types and levels of
    motivation may be beneficial in the teams overall success. This is
    of course based on the types of rewards or motivators the organizer
    is willing to provide. If it is just going to be one reward, the
    same reward for the entire group, it will be extremely important to
    have team members who would be happy with that reward/motivator.
    Determining each group members' types and levels of motivation
    requires the organizer to know each member. Both intrinsic and
    extrinsic motivators can be used to motivate the group. One common
    device used to help understand a person and there by determine their
    motivators is personality testing. Many managers find it difficult
    to find the time to spend with each group member individually to
    discover their motivators. It would certainly be ideal if they could
    find the time as it helps put them on a more personable level;
    however even when they have the time they may find it uncomfortable
    to ask questions of a personal nature. For this reason personality
    tests can be very useful. Developing understanding of personality
    typology, personality traits, thinking styles and learning styles is
    a useful way to improve your knowledge of motivation and behavior of
    self and others, in the workplace and beyond. The more you
    understand about personality, the better able you are to judge what
    motivates people - and yourself. Some examples of easily accessible
    online Personality tests are:

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:   

    :   Four Temperaments/Four
        Humours/"
    :   Jung\'s Psychological
        Types"
    :   Briggs® personality types theory (MBTI®
        model)"
    :   personality types theory (Temperament Sorter
        model)"
    :   Eysenck\'s personality types
        theory"
    :   Benziger\'s Brain Type
        theory"
    :   Moulton Marston\'s DISC personality theory (Inscape, Thomas
        Int.,
        etc)"
    :   Team Roles and personality types
        theory"
    :   \'Big Five\' Factors personality
        model"
    :   \[http://www.businessballs.com/personalitystylesmodels.htm#firo-b_personality_assessment_model/"-FIRO-B®
        Personality Assessment model"\]
    :   Birkman
        Method®"
    :   personality theories and psychometrics tests
        models

## Motivation in Challenging Group and Team Environments

### **Potential causes for a poorly motivated groups and team**

:   The lack of motivation or poor motivation; most often will cripple a
    group's ability to succeed and or hinder its progress. For the most
    part it is widely known that when a group is not motivated to
    perform, it will not succeed to a level of satisfaction that was
    previously desired. So the question remains; why are some groups not
    given the motivation to succeed? Two possible scenarios potentially
    explain this phenomenon:

    :   1\. The group leader provides the wrong type of motivation.
    :   2\. The group is unwilling to be motivated.
:   Some type of motivation is always provided for a group to succeed.
    The problem is that in several instances the methods for motivation
    are not correct and thus do not produce the sought after results.
    The first scenario states that there are occasions when the wrong
    motivator is provided. As described in the section "How to Motivate
    a Group;" the group leader must determine how the group needs to be
    motivated in order to be successful. Presuming that the group leader
    has successfully followed the prescribed advice and now knows what
    his group needs to be positively motivated; if the group fails based
    on motivation, what has happened? Either the group leader
    disregarded his findings or he has misunderstood them.\

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:   There may be situations when a group requires motivation that is
    unrealistic or not within the power of the group leader. There may
    also be situations when a group leader is simply unwilling to
    motivate the group. When she/he is unwilling and able; this will be
    a situation where the group leader may not be motivated properly and
    may need to be replaced. On the other hand when a group requests a
    bonus which the leader is unable to provide; even though she/he is
    willing, this is a situation where the team may need to be dissolved
    or changed.\

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:   The second possible scenario states that the group itself is
    unwilling to be motivated. Typically this will mean that either
    their desires are elsewhere or they no longer have faith in what
    they are doing. Take the example of a business owner who earns a
    healthy income. She is part of a group that provides a service at a
    premium. Over time she realizes that she does not believe in the
    product any more. She feels that it does not provide the value she
    has been promising. Will she continue to be an effective leader and
    support the rest of her team members in this business? The answer is
    that it depends on what motivates her. If she is motivated by money
    alone then, yes, she will continue to be an effective team member.
    However, if she is not motivated by money than she will begin to
    lose interest and become very ineffective as a manager for the team.
    If one important motivation to her is providing a quality product to
    the consumer, then if the product were to change to be a better
    quality one, then she would be properly motivated again and would
    again be effective as a manager.\

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:   Both scenarios boil down to a leader knowing what truly motivates
    his or her group and finding a way to provide that motivation.\

### **Motivating a team within a negative environment**

:   Before you are able to motivate a team who has a negative view of a
    project, you must first understand what caused the negative view to
    be held. It is best to directly talk with each team member to
    determine the root cause. Once it is known where the negative view
    comes from, actions can be taken. To begin with, the root cause
    should be examined. To determine the cause, it is important to
    analyze the responses to questions such as:

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:   

    :   1\. Is it an appropriate factor to have at the work environment
        (e.g. tight timelines)?
    :   2\. Is it due to a disruptive team member?
    :   3\. Is it due to stress surrounding the project (e.g. new
        procedures, difficult paperwork, etc.)?

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:   Once the main factor has been examined and assessed, it is important
    to determine if there are additional underlying factors that can be
    adversely impacting team members (e.g. no vacation in six months,
    new child, divorce, etc.).\

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:   With the main factor (and underlying factors) in hand, the negative
    views can be addressed head on. It is important to help shift the
    team's perspective to a positive mindset. If the team is struggling
    against tight timelines, incentives can be put into place for when
    the team hits the timeline. Something as simple as a promising a
    launch party can successfully change the team's dynamics. This
    example is a large form of recognition, but smaller forms can also
    be helpful in changing the team's dynamics.\

### **Motivating teams in a Cross-Functional environment**

:   Before learning how to motivate teams, it is best to understand what
    can de-motivate them. A Bnet.com^1^ article provides the top ten
    de-motivators for team members as, "Relations with project manager,
    co-worker relations, remuneration, leadership, security, working
    conditions, the organization's policy, team subordinate relations,
    personal time, title/status".\

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:   Cross-functional teams can be especially difficult to motivate as
    each individual comes from a different group. Each group can have
    different goals and incentives to motivate employees. When the
    individuals of a cross-functional team have different goals and
    incentives, the results can become more individualized. In addition
    to different groups, cross-functional team members come from
    different backgrounds and ways of thinking. These differences can
    pull a team apart, thus de-motivating them to work together. This
    does not necessarily need to happen. If differences are managed
    well, they can be leveraged to make the team stronger and ultimately
    more motivated to perform well as a group. Furthermore, each
    cross-functional team will go through the four stages of a team:
    forming, storming, norming, and performing. It may be difficult to
    motivate a team during the norming and storming phases. As such, it
    is important to take the phase the team is at into consideration.\

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:   Motivating a cross-functional team, however, is possible. Rowe^2^
    explored the motivational issues on cross-functional teams
    specifically focusing on the free-rider problem. Through different
    experiments, Rowe found that the severity of the free-rider problem
    in groups was severely underestimated. So not only was there an
    issue within the team, but it was much larger than perceived by the
    team. The free-rider problem can be reduced by building trust and
    collectivism within the team. Rowe also found that, "when properly
    aligned, accounting and team structures operate interactively as a
    powerful group framing device that helps to resolve the free-rider
    problem." By focusing more on aligning the incentives and goals of a
    group, a diversified team can be motivated to perform successfully.\

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:   One way to align the incentives and goals within a cross-functional
    group is to create a project scope document. This is an exercise
    that not only allows the team to work together to define a project,
    but also gets buy-in from the team on the goals of the project. The
    team discusses the different aspects of the project and identifies
    assumptions made, items that are in/out of the scope of the project,
    and also identifies risks and constraints on the project. At the end
    of the meeting, a project scope document is formed. All team members
    are responsible for reviewing the document and will approve the
    document if everything documented fits their understanding.\

### **Conclusion**

:   In this chapter, we have discussed what motivation is, what groups
    can do to motivate others, and some of the challenges that groups
    face when trying to address motivation. Motivation can take several
    forms. There are also many ways to approach motivation. It is
    important to evaluate the situation that you are in and then take
    the approach that will motivate the group to achieve the desired
    outcome. Without proper motivation, groups may not achieve their
    full potential or accomplish the goals that they set. Groups must
    work together to set goals and work to accomplish them. Proper
    motivation can ensure that groups will work together and everyone
    will do their part to achieve the goals of the group.\

### **Bibliography**

:::#http://www.bnet.com/2410-13059_23-68765.html

:::#The Effect of Accounting Report Structure and Team Structure on
Performance in Cross-Functional Teams, Casey Rowe, The Accounting
Review, Vol. 79, No. 4, 2004, pp.1153-1180

:::#http://www.eioba.com/a41068/extrinsic_and_intrinsic_motivations

:::#http://www.businessballs.com/personalitystylesmodels.htm

:::#Denny, Richard. 2005. Motivate to Win (3rd Edition). Kogan Page,
Limited.

:::#Ephross, Paul H. and Vassil, Thomas V. 2005. Groups that work:
Structure and Process. Columbia University Press

:::#Forsyth, Patrick. 2006. How to Motivate People (2nd Edition). Kogan
Page, Limited.

