Communication, Motivation and Team Work, Application Essay Example

Concrete experience

Motivation manifests a desire and interest in the workforce and acts as a driving force towards the achievement of goals. Lack of motivation on the other hands makes the work place implies lack of desire interest and driving force and ultimately leads to failure. A work place lacking motivation tends to be frustrating and less productive.

Lack of motivation leads to continued failure to meet targets due to the habit of procrastinating and results in attainment of inconsistent goals. The expected performance has not been met continuously becomes a serious challenge since one individual not meeting the expected target puts pressure on all the members of the team. With the lack of performance goals and feedback, it becomes difficult to make an individual commit to work. Lack of interest in the workplace also poses a challenge in performance and results from the lack of motivation in the workplace. Misuse of authority exhibited, where individuals lack the authority to perform some duties due to lack of delegation of authority results in the underperformance of the whole team. Delegation of authority is an essential element in the motivation of individuals at the workplace as these individuals appear to take part in the decision making process. Although the delegation of authority seems effective in providing, motivation there is no guarantee that the individual the power is delegated to is competent to perform those duties.

Incompetence is also another factor that comes into play due to lack of motivation and teamwork. It is typical to have an underperforming member in a team, but the lack of teamwork to assist the team member perform better and motivate the member towards attaining the expected goal results in the underperformance of the whole team. It is important to note that lack of motivation in such circumstances result in lack of positive feedback. In this regard, the individual fails to get the needed encouragement, or the fear of failure by the individual due to previous failure. Providing too much work to be accomplished within a short time frame also affects the performance at the work place. This situation tends to reduce the time to get into the subject or goal and thus compromising the quality of the outcome. Additionally the lack of work recognition and criticism reduces the motivation in the workforce and lowers the faith in an individual’s ability to perform better. Acknowledging an individual for performing well improves the self-esteem of the employees and criticism, on the other hand, makes the employee lose interest in achieving the expected goals. Unfair treatment of individuals in the workforce leads to unnecessary alignments against the organization. Fairness and honesty should be the guiding principle in attaining a productive team. Incompetence can be eliminated with the use of performance contracts where individuals are mandated to perform their duties as agreed upon and compromises to these conditions should not be tolerated.

Reflective observation

In order to attain a productive team of employees and teammates, it is essential to incorporate motivational strategies aimed at boosting the morale of the individuals. Motivation ensures that individuals who perform in their duties and attain their expected goals are acknowledged. Ensuring employees get a mention of their work goes a long way in motivating these employees. Encouraging non-performing employees also motivates them to improve productivity and attainment of goals. Making sure that targets are mutually agreed upon assists in team building as the employees take part in the decision making process and, therefore, feel being part of the team. Regular checks on the progress of work also help to check against procrastination of activities. Providing performance bonuses also improve the morale of the employees and ensure that they achieve the set targets. Incentive to ensure that these individuals attain the desired goals include providing mandatory overtime for underperforming employees to enable a culture that supports equal attainment of goals among all thin the whole team. These incentives serve to refrain the employees from failing to meet the set goals. On misuse of authority, measures to ensure a clear definition of authority and provide clear-cut boundaries on authority to avoid some employees overriding others with authority to do the task. Ensuring that the other team players agree on the authority or the responsibility of a leader especially when delegating authority ensures that the authority delegated to the individual in charge of a team is respected and clearly understood by the other team players. In order to achieve a productive environment, the authority in place should be legitimate consented to those who are subject to such authority. It is often a misconception that underperforming employees are a burden to the whole team and that in order to reduce inefficiencies it becomes vital to replace these individuals. However, motivating underperforming employees provides an incentive for these individuals to meet the expected goals.

Incompetence, on the other hand, can be checked with a reduction in the workload of employees to provide more time to clearly understand the goal of subject to the task assigned. Giving positive feedback also helps to mo0tivate the individuals towards the attainment of the desired goals. Prioritizing work ensures that the individual has ample time to deal with the task and improves the competence of the employee. Better training and effective communication ensures that the workforce is better equipped to meet the organization’s goals. Team building, on the other hand, improves the association between the employees, which provide an environment for exchanging ideas and development. Although incompetence affects the performance and quality of work, it is noteworthy that this may result from factors that tend to put pressure on these employees to do a lot of work within a short time. It is therefore imperative to provide motivation to employees as well as set realizable goals in order to increase the productivity of the employees.

Abstract conceptualization

The content theories of motivation provide that the motivation begin with the individual needs. It is noteworthy that needs trigger the desire within these individuals to attain these needs and thereby motivating the individuals. Unfulfilled needs among individuals provide an incentive that drives the individual to work hard in order to attain or satisfy these needs. The stronger the needs of the individual the more motivated the individual becomes towards the attainment of this goal. The Maslows needs hierarchy theory provides a clear concept of the content theory of motivation. The Maslows theory categorizes needs into five categories arranged in a hierarchy. At the bottom of the hierarchy are the psychological needs, which include the need to satisfy biological requirements of the individual. Next in the hierarchy is the need for security and then the necessity for belongingness which provides the fulfillment of affection, love and interaction with other individuals (Hoffman 2007). The need to satisfy esteem stems from personal achievements that affect self-esteem and achieved through recognition and respect from other individuals. Significantly important in the hierarchy is the need to achieve self-actualization, which provides for the fulfillment of one’s potential. Maslow points out that although the behavior of employees is reliant on the fulfillment of these needs such behavior is because of the fulfillment of the lowest unsatisfied need.

Process theory, on the other hand, involves the use of rational thought in gaining motivation. This process focuses on how individuals think or rationalize in a given circumstance. The goal theory provides that the individuals intend to gain more motivation in working on tasks whose goals appear achievable and have clear parameters or attract more feedback that is positive (Messmer, 2011). The greatest motivational feature according to this theory is the individuals’ desire to work. The aspects that are put into consideration while determining the desire to work include positive feedback, reality of the expected goals. Accordingly having knowledge of multiple tasks to be accomplished within a set time motivates an individual to productively engage in the task.

On the other hand, the expectancy theory focuses on the achievement of benefits from achieving the goal. This theory provides that individuals are motivated if they consider the benefits accruing from the achievement of the goal to be desirable. When a goal fits into the expectations of an individual and appears, desired and attainable the individual becomes motivated towards the attainment of that goal. In this achievement, the goal must have value and instrumentality on the completion of the attainment of the goal.

Active experimentation

In order to motivate individuals in a team it is critical to boost employee’s self-confidence in their efforts and skills. Although it is impractical to instill confidence in an individual, it is certain that the self-confidence of an individual can be boosted. In this regard, it is essential to reassure employees of their skill and competence in the tasks they are undertaking. The quantity of the workload should also be appropriate to ensure that these employees do not feel over tasked and ensure quality output. Pointing out past success and providing positive feedback on successful tasks ensure that an employee is motivated to attain the required standard of performance. In ensuring that there is a positive work environment establishes a working culture with open communication, recognition, team spirit, and positivity. To improve operational performance and motivation in employees, the work surroundings, should be conducive and employees should nave workspaces. An important aspect in making employees value their work is the provision of autonomy and giving employees more responsibility. The creation of value for the work is extremely beneficial, as the workers feel more confident in what they are doing. Self-confidence being an essential part of a motivated and focused employee proves a crucial factor in improving performance. Matching employees with their skills and interests also intrinsically motivate employees to perform better. Knowing the employees individually provides an understanding of their weaknesses as well as strengths and helps in allocating tasks, which are of interest to the individual. With the inclination of individuals towards their interests brings about autonomy and specialization, which in turn improves performance. Enabling employees to master their new skills help to build the employees and develop their performance and expertise in that area. Motivation also plays a supremely critical role in team building as a team it is formed when individuals with the same idea come together in the achievement of a common goal. Motivation of the employees creates a good attitude that enables effective communication within the work setup. It is noteworthy that motivation alone cannot achieve much in a team, and it becomes necessary to include the aspect of positive attitude in the team members to facilitate performance in the team. It is, therefore, beneficial not to always try to find faults in the performance of the employees but to be patient understanding and supportive. Not being adamant and accepting to be corrected by others is the key to improved performance in a team.

Reference list

Hoffman S. (2007). Classical Motivation Theories – Similarities and Differences Between Them. GRIN Verlag.

Messmer, M. (2011). Motivating Employees For Dummies. John Wiley & Sons.