Motivation - Workplace Relationships Matter!

Organizations attempting to understand why their employee teams lack motivation may need to look no further than the personal on-the-job relationships that their employees share. Some schools of thought have been that organizations should discourage co-workers becoming friends considering that the imaginative future problems will outweigh any short-term positive results.

As the generations and their associated informal social policies shift over time, so do the values and beliefs that a new breed of workforce brings to the job. Organizations now more than ever may need to consider the impact of discouraging workplace friendships or downplaying the positive effects of emotional connections that people naturally make with each other. Many organizations claim to encourage a team approach and one of the most fundamental ways to build teams is through relationships. Many positive outcomes can occur when teams form strong interpersonal relationships, here are a few worth mentioning:

• sense of community
• creating shared history
• sense of obligation
• desire to belong

These and many other similar positive relationship building outcomes provide something many organizations seek – workplace motivation. Employees who fail to form relationships or worse yet are discouraged from forming relationships lack a sense of purpose in their work, or even worse, a sense of distrust in the organization. Organizations that discourage building relationships or a management philosophy that encourages tearing down cross-organizational relationships set themselves up for alienation that fuels cynicism, conflict, and a lack of enthusiasm for the mission at hand.

Do you desire a motivated and engaged workforce? Building effective and positive workplace relationships is an essential  ingredient for the motivation recipe. 

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Adaptability, Optimism, and Diversity

Are you flexible when confronted with workplace challenges or obstacles? Many experts believe that this may be a key competency for workplace success, especially in organizations that possess high levels of emotional intelligence. Not surprising is the idea that being adaptable and displaying high levels of emotional intelligence seem to fit together like hand and glove.

Having the skills to read your environment and understand the needs of the people or the organization and then adapt appropriately should be a desired skill. Like many workplace skills adaptability is not created genetically, it is a learned skill. Those who have learned to scan their environment and make adjustments as required are often regarded as valuable team members. They are the first to get picked for new or challenging assignments.

In many cases those who are adaptable are also highly optimistic.They tend to be resilient in their pursuit of excellence while also facing challenges and setbacks head on. They approach others in the workplace with empathy and leverage diversity effectively. Differences are not viewed as a distraction from the focus, they are viewed as opportunities.

Do you adapt quickly to challenges and obstacles? Are you optimistic about assignments and do you recognize diversity as a collaborative opportunity?

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Feedback and the Amygdala Hijack.

A recent blog focused on the idea of giving and receiving effective feedback in the workplace. Feedback is very important to ensure high levels of self-confidence and to promote improved performance. Unfortunately many workplace employees are not effective at giving or receiving feedback and will often avoid the feedback process as much as possible. One fear that exists is the fear of upsetting the individual receiving the feedback and essentially making the situation worse instead of better. Feedback needs to be properly managed which includes delivery at the right time. The worst time to give feedback to a fellow employee is during an amygdala hijack.

Ah-mig-da-lah what? An amygdala hijack occurs when our brain is in the fight or flight mode. Amygdala, is the part of our brain that is responsible for comparing incoming information with our past emotional memories. A hijack ensues when we are completely overcome with fight or flight emotions (and other brain functions) and as a result logic and reasoning are thrown out of the window. It is protection, in motion, real-time.

In the workplace it is important to avoid feeback in very intense emotional situations. During these times most of what will be heard, felt, or given is an outright character attack. Employees need feedback, they need constructive and useful feedback. Employees who receive no feedback will lose confidence in their abilities and assume that their efforts do not make a difference. Choose the right time for feedback, create a culture of performance feedback and watch the motivation and morale of employee teams grow.

 

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Feedback Makes Us Better!

If you were doing something wrong, or something that could be improved, would you want to know about it? Most employees would quickly answer “yes” to this question. Then why do we sometimes struggle with the feedback process? Many fear upsetting co-workers, supervisors, or direct reports. The fear of the unknown or the conflict that may develop makes some employees steer clear of anything even remotely connected to the feedback exchange.

Feedback does not have to be a confrontational situation, often I suggest to organizations to think of it as a conversation, not a confrontation. Organizations that develop a culture of effective feedback, both giving and receiving are typically higher performing organizations when compared with those that do not. In some organizations feedback is abundant, in others we have to dig deep to get the feedback, and in some cases we may have to self-assess and provide our own feedback.

One key element of the feedback exchange is to create an atmosphere of providing feedback that focuses on helping the recipient succeed. Feedback should not be about an opportunity to humiliate, devalue, or disrespect a fellow employee, it should be about helping them succeed. High performing organizations utilize feedback systems that allow the process to go upward, downward, and horizontally throughout the organization, it is not just about supervisor to direct report.

Do you utilize effective feedback systems in your organization?

 

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Reliability Builds Trust

If asked, would other co-workers describe you as reliable? Reliability helps build trust and in many cases a lack of trust represents a missing link for building effective teams.

Have you ever asked a co-worker for help on an assignment and have been let down? Have you shared duties or responsibilities in a team environment where someone didn’t do their part? These circumstances or situations could lead to a lack of trust in the future. 

In team environments everyone must be committed to doing their part, more importantly the team as a whole needs to be committed to managing the unexpected. Simply put - teams who are better prepared to manage the unexpected will be more effective and productive than those who are not. Here are a few tips for managing the unexpected:

• build contingency time into projects or tasks
• avoid procrastination, get started early
• prioritize and avoid perfectionism when appropriate

As teams develop and evolve remember that not all members will contribute in the same manner, quantity, or quality. Being reliable to your team will make you a valued member. Reliability in turn builds trust – teams that have more trust in each other will produce better results.

Are you reliable? Can I trust your answer?

 

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