Speak in terms of their Dreams. A carefree retirement, running their own business, getting married. These are probably 3 of the most common long term goals of members of your team, and unfortunately, none of these seem quite in line with what the needs of the ‘team’ are.

As well as having these goals, your team mates will probably have some form of  ‘plan’ in their mind as to how they wish to achieve them – and you can bet this action plan won’t help your organistation…right? Thats where you’d be wrong. These ‘alternative’ goals can actually be used to benefit your team and increase productivity. You simply need to apply the technique below.

To start putting this Teamwork Tip into practise, you need to be talking to each member of your team individually and in your conversation, explain to your fellow team mates that their current task will take them one small yet significant step closer towards their dreams.

Easier said than done? Well read on for an example of this technique in practise.

Imagine that your team mates desire is to leave your company and take up a higher position in a rival firm. This is a fairly common vision, so would be helpful as an example. You need to look at the task in hand and examine which elements would help your collegue achieve his move. The answer of course lies in the transferable skills that they would gain from the current task. You could describe in detail how this would boost his CV and give them an edge over other applicants. The key action that will really cement this attitude in their mind, would be for you to visbily tailor the work they are set so that it would fit his transferable skill needs more closely. For example you could give him extra responsibility, noting that he would be able to directly refer to this in his CV. You see how you’d actually be doing the opposite of what most team leaders would do, namely isolate and discourage the employee’s move? You are taking the opposite action, and that’s why you’re getting the opposite result – motivation. The more you speak in terms of the other persons dreams, the more attention you will capture, and the more effectively you can manage your team.

To conclude.

• Understand your collegues long term goals
• Analyse what benefits in the current task are available to help them achieve the goal.
• Be seen to tailor the work you give them to better fit their needs

If you carry out all three steps, your team mate will without doubt become far more focused on their work. They won’t be working for money, or due to pressure, but because of their own internal drive to succeed at enabling their deepest desires to come true. And that form of motivation, is priceless.

2. How to handle competitive team mates. Competitiveness is often seen as a negative characteristic; often associated with immorality, aggression and self-centred behaviour. Part of this stigma exists for a very valid reason, but there’s no denying that competitive spirit is a brilliant motivation tool. Humans are hardwired to be very competitive creatures. In life we naturally we have to compete for everything, including jobs, partners and even restaurant tables! We all have a competitive spirit to some extent, although it is more prevalant in certain people than others.

But firstly, lets take a quick look at what competitiveness is. From a teamwork point of view, there are actually two types: Constructive and Destructive.

‘Constructive’ Competitiveness.

Constructive competitiveness occurs when the individual is competing against an ‘outside’ threat that is remote from the team, for example, another team or company. Constructive competitiveness also covers when the individual competes against themselves. This type brings a positive benefit to the team because if the team succeeds, the competitor is too remote for there to be any negative consequences for the team. For instance if a marketing team for Loreal successful bring a product to market; beating the equivilant team from Procter and Gamble, then from Loreal’s point of view, it’s win win.

‘Destructive’ Competitiveness.

Destructive competitiveness occurs when close peers, collegues or family compete. So for most teamwork cases, this would include competition within the team. While it’s true that some leaders could pull this off well, on the whole you’ll do well to avoid it. When both competitors reside in the same team, then it guarantees that the team will feel the effects of the winner and the loser, which effectively cancel out. As pressure increases, team members may start withholding infomation from one another, or even subtley sabotageing or undermining the other’s efforts. In this kind of environment, success is only a selfish gain, and the overall effect on the team is negative. Enron encouraged this level of competitiveness by routinely laying off those who featured in the lowest 10% performing employees.

How to encourage constructive competitiveness

If you want to unleash the competitiveness in a positive way within your friends or collegues:

* Give your employees a solid reputation to uphold
* Compare your employees to their external rivals and challenge them to beat them.
* Set your worker a tough goal to meet, and support with praise.

Our natural competitiveness will instinctly take over once the right challenge has been set. No-one can resist the opportunity to prove an admirer right, or accept a tough personal challenge and excel above others.

Remembering my warning before about destructive competitiveness; a ‘rival’ to beat must exist outside of your organisation, or so remote from the individual that there will be no negativity between them. If you successfully set your own friends or team mates challenges such as these, you will fill them with a sense of motivation and enthuasiasm that would only come them taking on a competitive challenge and personally striving to win!