Motivate with project recaps

If the people on your team don’t feel like they’re getting results, they’ll lose their motivation. So when your team accomplishes a task or a goal, let people know about it.
Suggestion: Project recaps provide the vital finishing touch to any team effort. A
project recap should answer the following questions:
1. What was the original project goal? To pave six miles of cracked interstate
highway.
2. What made it difficult and/or important? Unseasonably hot spring weather made it hard. The impending summer vacation traffic made it urgent.
3. Who worked on the project? Three five-member crews headed by Pat, Chris and Terry.
4. What made the person(s) right for the task? Their record for meeting repair deadlines is the best in the department.
5. What were the good aspects of the project? (Pinpoint individual effort.)
Chris’s jackhammer team worked overtime four days in a row.
Terry’s grader driver discovered a new technique for preventing crumbling shoulders.
6. How did you resolve any unexpected problems? Pat’s crew pumped
concrete at night to fill three eroded sections.
7. What aspects of the project made you proud of the team? It was the fastest time ever recorded for paving so much highway.

Recaps are simple but powerful motivators. Why? Few things are as satisfying as being able to say, “We did that, and I had a part in making it happen.”
— Adapted from Coaching, Mentoring and Managing, William Hendricks. Career Press.

Why teams fail to meet goals

You meet with team members periodically to set team goals. But lately the team has missed several important targets. Why? Teams usually fail to meet goals for one of the following reasons:
• Too many goals.
If you come out of meetings with pages and pages of team goals, rest assured that the team will meet few, if any, of them.
Suggestion: Focus the team’s energy by establishing one or two top goals per week or month. If you call every routine task a “goal,” team members won’t take you seriously. A goal should be a rallying cry for peak performance.
• Not enough accountability.
Do you set goals but fail to follow up on them? If so, people sense that the goals weren’t all that important.
Suggestion: Once you set a goal, show your interest and concern—which you can do without directing the team’s every move. Never set a goal you don’t plan to follow up on.
• Too much forgiveness.
How do you react when team members fail to meet their goals? Do you say, “That’s OK; you’ll do better next time”? If you forgive every failure, you demotivate those members who do meet their goals.
Suggestion: When a team member falls short of a target, find out why. Perhaps the goal was unrealistic or the person needed more time or training. Make sure you didn’t contribute to the person’s failure. Then spell out very clearly what will happen if a team member fails to meet goals in the future.
— Adapted from Managing People At Work, Professional Training Associates.

21 ways to say ‘Well Done’

Sometimes, offering praise is harder than it should be. In a busy office, it’s easy to forget to compliment and voice your appreciation. But praise can really make a team member’s day. Here are some reminders of how easy it really is to say, “Thanks, well done”:
1. I’m proud you’re on my team.
2. Congratulations on a terrific job.
3. You’re so helpful. Thank you.
4. You keep improving.Well done.
5. Thanks so much for your consistent effort.
6. I really admire your perseverance.
7. Your mood always lifts the team’s spirit.
8. You’re a champion.
9. Wow, what an incredible accomplishment!
10. Great effort.You make us all look good.
11. I have great confidence in you.
12. You’ve grasped the concept well.
13. Your customer service skills are sensational.
14. Your sales results are outstanding.
15. You’re a valuable part of this team.
16. Your efforts are really making a difference.
17. You are a bonus.
18. You continue to delight our customers.
19. You make the team’s vision come alive.
20. Your accomplishments inspire the team.
21. Customers are noticing the efforts you’re putting in.
— Adapted from The Fun Factor, Carolyn Greenwich. McGraw-Hill, www.mcgrawhill.com.

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