How to Get Your Team Motivated for the Year Ahead

New years may bring many things to mind, including the chance to get a fresh new start in just about any area of your life. While many people set out to achieve new goals in their personal lives, from financial planning to personal fitness, you may take the new year as an opportunity to boost productivity in the workplace. Depending on your workplace, the last month of the year could be fast-paced with deadlines upon deadlines to meet before the end of the year, while others were simply chilling throughout the holidays and dealing with slow day after slow day. Whatever the case may be, the new year could be your chance to get some fresh motivation to your team and hit the ground running. Not sure where to start? Keep reading for tips on how to get your team motivated for the year ahead.

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Get your team’s input

If you plan to just bark orders at your team to get them motivated for the year ahead, you likely are going to be met with the exact opposite response you are going for. Yes, you may be their manager and in the position to guide your team to get where they need to be, a leader or manager is only as good as their ability to get their team to rally behind them in support and get the job done. When setting goals and expectations for the year ahead, make sure you make an effort to get their input on what you ultimately decide to do.

For example, you may be thinking of a goal that seems perfect in your mind, but your team may be thinking of something different. What sounds like a great idea to you, may seem unachievable to your team. Do they think they need supplementary training or support in order to meet those goals? Does that goal go in a different direction than the roles your team is currently working on? Making an effort to get your team’s input on any goals set before you actually establish them can make them feel valued and more motivated knowing their input was taken into consideration.

Your team may even bring up goals you didn’t even have in mind going into your goal-setting.

Set goals 

New year’s resolutions have survived the test of time for a reason. Even though not every single one is achieved, they still help people feel motivated in the new year in whatever area they set that goal in. Establishing a goal for your team can get them in that same mindset at work.

Set goals that everyone on the team can work to achieve, and make sure everyone is fully aware of what they are expected to do to contribute to achieving that goal. There is no use in setting a goal that is quite vague and doesn’t really have an achievable outcome. Setting a goal with clear objectives, outlining how each team member is expected to contribute to meet that goal.

Plan and announce rewards

No matter the situation, everyone likes to get rewarded for some good work. While the goals you set may be perfectly in line with your team’s expected responsibilities at work, establishing some type of reward can get them even more motivated to complete any goals and expectations. These rewards don’t have to be extravagant but can be small enough to show that extra bit of appreciation for a job well done.

Rewards can include:

- Extra time off, or offering flex-time to employees

- Catered breakfasts or lunches in the office

- Gift certificates or small gifts

 Be flexible and seek feedback

One thing that causes many individuals to “fail” when it comes to any new year’s resolution is believing that the resolution isn’t as achievable as they thought it once was, and abandoning it entirely. Do not let this same thing happen to your team. If you find that your team’s motivation is getting stale as everyone is not getting the number of results that wanted, be flexible about shifting gears or figuring out what you can do to help your team out.

If there are specific numbers associated with your goals, think about scaling them back, or scaling them down into smaller, more achievable goals with short-term deadlines. Large numbers, like a big number of target sales, can be daunting to your team. Setting smaller goals they can tackle in the short term can help them stay motivated as they overcome hurdles and see progress more often.

If your team is feeling stuck or unsure of how they can achieve their goals, figure out what they need to get the job done? Do they need additional training to get the skills or knowledge to get the goals achieved? If so, set aside time and resources to get your team properly achieved so they can be better equipped to get the job done.

Don’t let the opportunity of a new year and a fresh start pass for your team – take the chance to get your team motivated this new year. Good luck!