Interesting ideas for motivation
This person has some non-conventional ideas:
http://www.sideroad.com/Entrepreneur/business-motivation.html
This article by Nancy Wurtzel discusses what she finds to be good guidelines for motivation. Inspiration, goal setting, networking, rewards, exercise, organization, and motivational materials are her main points for motivation. Keep in mind that this caters to small business owners, but I am not so sure that networking is a motivator. Finding a group of people you can talk to about business is really what she is talking about. I think having a network of small business owners could be motivating if everyone is doing well, but if the local economy takes a hit, the whole group may become demotivated. I see her point, but I am not sure having a network is central to being motivated. Things like inspiration, goal setting, rewarding yourself, and being organized all lead to quality work and motivation. I haven't encountered this before, but I can see her point that exercise can be motivating. Being healthy and doing a good workout help to make you happier, so I think it is reasonable to say that having a schedule and goals and rewards while working out will help you to be motivated in the business world. Surprisingly, she suggests use of good and cheap motivational materials like books, CD's and DVDs. I think this kind of thing could be used well, but generally has a negative stigma around it and most people tune out or laugh at these kinds of things when they are over.
Her parting advice is good advice, and that is to keep what you start in motion. If you start a motivation initiative and let it die, it will probably demotivate your employees.
Comments
Posted by: Warren Chang
Posted on: April 19, 2006 07:46 PM
About networking, I disagree with what Dave has to say. With the right network, people can socialize with other with similar jobs. This way, they know what exactly is going on, and if you do a better job of keeping your employees happy, then your employees can compare his happiness to that of a similar worker at a different company. As for excersise, I don't know whether or not it would motivate me, but I know that I hate excercising, so that's not going to happen.