Motivating people is an art, which project managers should know in order to increase the involvement of the project team, stakeholders and customers. The tips below will help you with your motivation skills.

Tip 1- Use Commitment Through Empowerment

1. Allow people to participate as much as possible as early as possible
2. Delegate
3. Give people autonomy to make decisions about the work to perform
4. Give people the tools and skills to do the job
5. “Steer” rather than direct movement towards the vision

Tip 2- Overcome Frustration

1. Empathize, not sympathize
2. Empower people to solve their own problems
3. Expect resistance
4. Focus on the “big picture”
5. Identify the sources
6. Seek Win-Win relationships rather than Win-Lose
7. Treat the cause rather than the symptoms
8. Understand people’s perspectives

Tip 3- Overcome Procrastination and Negativism

1. Acknowledge and communicate the reasons for procrastination and negativism
2. Address rumors early and directly
3. Be honest
4. Communicate and demonstrate the benefits for change
5. Provide people the tools, knowledge, expertise, and other support to make the change
6. Recognize their existence
7. Seek participation from everyone
8. Set the example

Tip 4- Delegate

1. Communicate expectations
2. Communicate the importance of the delegated tasks
3. Encourage accountability for the results achieved by the delegate
4. Encourage constant feedback
5.  Follow-up on the task being delegated
6. Grant autonomy to the delegate to do the job
7. Know about the knowledge, skills, experience, etc. about the delegate
8. Know exactly what to delegate
9. Offer and provide assistance at any time
10.  Realize you can’t delegate total responsibility for the results

Tip 5- Celebrate

1. Build and maintain camaraderie and esprit de corps
2. Encourage support from others who are not thrilled about the change
3. Motivate others
4. Recognize major contributions

Tip 5- Recognize Some Indicators of Fear

1. Always criticizing any new ideas, concepts, etc.
2. Constantly defending or reverting to the “old way” of doing business
3. High turnover, absenteeism, rework, etc.
4. Unwillingness to take a chance
5. Waiting for someone else to “do it first”

Tip 6- Overcome Fear by

1. Build an atmosphere of tolerance
2. Encourage sharing of successes and failures with others
3. Provide the tools and skills to develop and try new ideas, concepts, etc.
4. Recognize its existence
5. Reward new ideas and approaches taken that produce better results
6. Reward success, not punish failure
7. Tolerate failure as well as success

Tip 7- Know how to Cope with Conflict

1. Define its cause
2. Determine and track a plan for its resolution
3. Establish and follow a process for resolution
4. Focus on the vision
5. Keep emotions out
6. Recognize its existence
7. Seek Win-win rather than Win-Lose results

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