Managing a demotivated team

Dear Caroline,
I recently joined an organisation where I have been appointed as a middle-level manager. I have found that team members know what to do and yet need more motivation, energy, and engagement when they do the work. I am concerned that some do not believe in what they are doing and are not even bothered to understand why what they do is essential.  As a result, the quality of the work is substandard, and we are now spending so much time repeating work. How do I manage this? 

Mathew

Hello Mathew, the issue you have can be managed in several ways and appreciating why your new team works the way it does needs to be established so you can provide multiple solutions.  The critical point here is that you need to find the best way to influence your team so that they move towards being motivated to take ownership of their work. There is a new word in the Collins Dictionary for 2022 “Quiet Quitting” – “the practice of doing no more work than one is contractually obliged to do, especially to spend more time on personal activities. The practice of doing little or no work while being present at one’s place of employment.”

This likely speaks to what you are observing, and the challenge for you is to understand why and then support your team in making the shift. One of the ways that you can address your issue is to have one-on-one sessions with your team members and take a temperature check to understand how they are. This can determine whether they enjoy their work, work-life balance, and any challenges. Be careful not to cross boundaries.  The other approach is to have a team-building session and link the session to work.

Ask the question; does everyone understand what they do and why? What are their successes and challenges? Always celebrate the victories, no matter how small they are. These discussions will bring to the surface the issues that you need to address.

While the above looks at the challenges from the team members’  perspective, organisations must also make some changes. The demand for organisations is to build stronger relationships with their employees; as the manager, you will also want to revisit some of the work processes and check that what is in place serves the organisation and supports the employees.

A key point to recognise is that many employees, while wanting to earn a living and make money, are balancing that with quality of family life and “doing me”. 

Good luck