Jan 21 2013

4 Challenges to Managing Both Volunteers and Employees

Guest Post By Sarah Clare, writer at Project Management Software

Volunteers are a great way to meet the needs of your organization and expand your mission without having to increase your budget. However, when you have a blended staff that includes both volunteers and paid employees.... 

comment
Nov 07 2012

6 Ways to Motivate Without Money

Whether you call it motivation or employee engagement, everybody wants the same thing- a workforce that wants to show up and wants to give 100%.  But with incentive pools being cut and raises almost passé, what can you do?

comment
Jul 16 2012

When Setting Goals- Wishful Thinking Doesn't Work

“If you think you can grow 5%, let’s double that and do 10%.”  That was the mantra of a former boss who embraced aggressive growth goals as a way of life.   Everyone liked working for him, so we just nodded and did the best we could. But in retrospect, we should have...

comment
Jan 20 2012

Is Fear A Good Motivator?

There have been a lot of articles recently about stress in the workplace. Obviously one of the biggest causes of that stress is fear. Fear that the boss’s expectations won't be met, fear of losing a job in a down economy, and sometimes just the irrational, unpredictable behavior of a coworker can make you afraid to walk in the door in the morning. The question is, does this fear actually cause an employee to do anything productive?

 

comment
Jan 11 2012

Motivating the Unmotivated

A while ago, a friend asked me how she should motivate her very unmotivated employee.  Her employee did just enough to get by, made it clear he was counting the days and was a downer to be around.  Firing was not an option. For you Office fans out there, think Stanley Hudson.  I wrote a blog on How to Motivate Your Team, which I think is helpful for the average worker, but to be honest, while many of these tips will help, you need to bring out the big guns when dealing with the Stanley Hudson’s of the world.  Here are some “big gun” ideas:

 

 

comment
Oct 21 2011

How to Motivate your Team

“People do work for money – but they work even more for meaning in their lives. In fact, they work to have fun. " - Jeffrey Pfeffer, "Six Dangerous Myths About Pay," Harvard Business Review

There are countless studies and theories on what motivates people. One of the more widely known and accepted is Herzberg's Two Factor Theory, which concluded that like Jeffrey Pfeffer, money does not motivate people to performance. Finding out what does motivate your employees is one of the hardest and most important responsibilities you have as a manager. Here is what I learned over the years:

comment