Are you managing a team at the front lines, also known as the bottom tier of an organization’s hierarchy? If so, you may believe that your team should feel naturally motivated to do what must be done just because they are being paid and you’ve told them what to do. That doesn’t always work, so you might be confused about how to motivate your employees to do what’s being asked of them. But you can lead a high performing team by going through these steps, one by one:
1. Practice informally connecting with people on your own team and across the organization. If you’re working in the same office, do a tour of people’s desks periodically. If your team is virtual or remote, schedule a chat and reassure the individual that it’s informal and you’re just interested in them.
These conversations are opportunities to ask open-ended questions and show interest in their work and lives. When you begin, ask them about themselves and how they feel about their work. Ask them what they believe is working (and isn’t) on your team. Stay open and curious, and listen for their own sense of empathy, passion, and curiosity. Express appreciation for them before you finish.
2. Make sure everyone is clear on the team’s purpose. Most managers assume everyone has this clarity, but it’s too easy to take this for granted. It is important, however, because meaningful work is far more motivating than unmeaningful work, and the difference between the two tends to be purpose. If people know that the work they do is having a positive impact on others, they will feel more motivated to complete that work on time and well.
You can cultivate this sense of purpose on the team by engaging them in a group discussion. This will help them to feel a sense of ownership of that purpose, and it will promote their clarity about it.
Open a meeting by inviting discussion about the purpose your team serves within the organization. Find out how team members think your team is connected to a larger purpose. Ask them how the team’s work makes a positive impact on others. Ask each person to share what aspect of the team’s work they feel most deeply connected to.
To go even deeper, lead a discussion about how your work as a team benefits the world outside the organization. Discuss the potential ways you can measure the impact that of more effort on the team. How will that lead to more progress toward your shared purpose?
3. Survey team members to learn how they see their own work fitting into the work of the team. Share your own thoughts about your work as the team’s leader. This could be done in one-to-one meetings or via an online survey, with questions like:
- What does it mean for me to be a meaningful contributor to this team?
- What does this team need from me to achieve our goals?
- What are my individual goals and how do they fit with our larger team goals?
- How do I contribute to the outcomes of our team’s work?
- What parts of our teams work am I unsure or unclear about?
- What decisions am I able to make on behalf of our team? What decisions should I discuss with others before making a choice?
4. Practice sharing with vulnerability. Leaders who are both competent and authentic are perceived as effective. Leaders who pretend they have no vulnerabilities used to be the norm, but more and more are seen as ineffective. Vulnerability with authenticity in leadership takes some practice. Learning how to shape your stories about times when you have made mistakes will help you to lead more effectively.
You can build psychological safety on the team by reflecting on a mistake you made that could be okay to share with the team and then share about it with someone you trust. Ask for a colleague’s help in shaping your story so it’s useful and instructive as well as authentic.
5. Build and leverage team diversity. Pay attention to different types of diversity, including demographic, expertise, location, cognitive and status. Then brainstorm strategies that you can apply to your team so you can have more inclusive and invite diverse participation. Use these strategies in team meetings.
As you go along, be generous with specific, positive feedback. At the same time, be cautious about providing uninvited instructions or corrections. Stay mentally involved enough to offer positive feedback, but support others in solving their own problems, and you won’t wind up with more on your plate than you wanted.
In summary, motivating employees at the front lines of an organization can be challenging, but it is possible to lead a high-performing team by taking the following steps: informally connecting with team members and listening to their perspectives, ensuring clarity on the team’s purpose and connection to a larger mission, surveying team members to understand their individual roles and goals, sharing with vulnerability and building psychological safety, and promoting diversity and inclusive participation.
By following these tips and being generous with specific, positive feedback, front-line managers and supervisors can help their teams to feel motivated and engaged in their work.
You can start a no-risk conversation with me if you’re interested in exploring how coaching might support you in transforming the potential and performance of your team. I look forward to hearing from you.
