No matter how great your employees are, there are always times, especially in new startup businesses, when they will struggle to stay inspired. That’s why it is important to inspire them daily – here’s how.

 

As a business owner it is your job to help your staff see the bigger picture and inspire them to do their best on every single project, which is no mean feat, especially when you’re completing small repetitive tasks. Lots of articles talk about inspiring your team when your business first starts up. However, what a lot of people forget is that no matter how amazing your new business is, it is likely that initial wide eyed excitement at the beginning will wane over time. Whether that’s through sheer hard work or just naturally forgetting that exciting ‘beginning feeling’ – your team will not keep that same inspired feeling forever if you don’t top up their inspiration levels. Here are some of the tried and tested ways of motivating employees and understanding what motivates a manager too:

 

In The Beginning

 

As an excellent business owner, you will of course ensure that your initial plans and meetings in relation to the new business are full of inspiration and excitement. You’ll want to fuel a mighty fire that burns strong enough to keep the embers of inspiration burning throughout the good times and the bad times that are to come.

 

A good thing to do, is to set up individual and group goals that will keep your team going. So if you know a particular employee is looking to enhance their skills and you know that your business would benefit from the extra skills then set that up for them so that they have their own individual reason to pursue success. Just make sure any promises you make are fulfilled, otherwise you’ll look like a bad manager and all round untrustworthy person.

 

You can also create group goals that are related to the business, but not exclusively. Perhaps add incentives like coffee and cake, cinema trips or even comedy prizes when a new contract is secured or a project well completed. Or simply explain what each success milestone means to the company, not just to the client. The beginning is the time you set the seeds for success, the process is where you nurture those seeds.

 

Don’t Include Everyone In Group Meetings

 

We’re not suggesting you leave anyone out of group meetings of course, but it is important you make the most of your working time every day, which means not inviting everyone to meetings if they don’t need to be there. Brainstorming and troubleshooting should be done with the whole team, but discussing minor issues doesn’t need to involve everyone. This wastes time and doesn’t keep everyone focused on their own individual tasks, which saps away inspiration. But do have individual chats throughout the day and make sure everybody knows they can come to you in person if they need to.

 

Don’t Be Negative

 

Don’t be negative around your team. Every day you should be coming into the office full of beans and ready to take on whatever the business throws at you. If you are negative, you will create a negative environment and, ultimately, fail to build a successful business.

 

Be The Inspiration

 

You can’t inspire people if you don’t set a good example, so you need to be the inspiration. When people get negative, be the positive one and remind them why they are doing what they are doing. Be on time, get stuck in and keep communication going – your team should always feel like you are passionate about the business. They need to be able to look up to you. If you don’t seem inspired, why should they feel inspired?

 

Remember, it’s not all tricks, games and team building – as long as you remember to inspire daily, you will. Being mindful that it needs to happen daily is the first and most important step.