Are you a leader looking for the best tested and trusted ways to inspire your team? If yes, then this blog post is specifically prepared for you.
A team comprises diverse backgrounds, knowledge, exposure, and experiences bonded together by a common cause.
Sometimes a team is built by friends or associates who share a common interest and want to work together towards their goal.
At other times, an organization in the picture searches for individuals and brings them together to make up a team.
Whichever way the team set-up comes about, one thing is certain on any team: a leader’s presence.
The team leader is responsible for directing the affairs of the team and managing the team members.
The team leader is responsible for ensuring that every team member contributes their quota towards actualizing team goals and development.
However, it is worth noting that the job of a team leader is not the easiest.
It is one thing to lead or manage a group of individuals who are different in many ways.
More so, finding common ground with such a group and making them work together collaboratively is a big ask for any leader on its own.
Another challenge you might face as a team leader leading your team is a lack of motivation or inspiration.
There are moments when some team members or the entire team would be low on morale.
This affects their performance and productivity.
It is your responsibility to inspire your team at such times.
Even when the team is in the best shape and mindset, inspiring your team to get better is a daily task for you.
Inspiring your team as a manager or team leader is of great importance.
This will be of immense benefit to your organization as a whole and your team members.
In this article, we will consider some of the many benefits of having an inspired team.
Additionally, we’ll consider why a team might lack inspiration, as this is the first step towards inspiring a team.
And of course, we will also show you the best ways any organization or team leader can inspire their team and start reaping the benefits.
Before going into all of these, let us explain what team inspiration entails.
What Does It Mean to Inspire Your Team?
Inspiration can be defined as mental stimulation to carry out a particular task or feel a certain way.
Most times, it denotes the things or factors that bring out the best in a person.
Inspiration is sometimes used interchangeably with motivation.
That means that when you talk about inspiring people, especially in this context, it also means motivating people to be the best they can be.
Therefore from the definition above, inspiring your team means motivating them, giving them the needed energy, commitment levels, and determination to be the best.
Team inspiration entails many things, ranging from how you speak to the team, treat the team, and leadership style.
All of these have a direct impact on how well you can keep your team inspired.
There are many reasons why it is essential to pay close attention to team motivation or inspiration as a part of your team management strategy.
We’ll discuss these as we proceed.
However, note that inspiring your team is integral to building resourceful and productive teams and increasing their creativity.
The teams that end up exceeding expectations and making history are those who are adequately inspired or motivated.
Hence, a lot of effort needs to go into inspiring your team, not only when there is low morale on the team but at all times.
Why Is It Important to Inspire Your Team?
Team inspiration is a key aspect of management in the workplace that every employer or team leader should take seriously.
If you do, there are many benefits to having an inspired team.
They include;
It Makes the Team More Innovative
Team inspiration has a direct relationship with innovation.
That means that when you inspire your team, they are likely to get more innovative.
This happens because an inspired team is a more focused team.
Such a team would devote the most attention and time to their jobs and the organization.
When employees are more focused, they are open to seeing areas that need improvements in the organization.
Additionally, they are in the best frame of mind to develop innovative ideas to move the team forward and improve them.
That is how inspiration drives innovation on a team.
It Leads to Increased Productivity
A lack of motivation or inspiration is usually reflected in the level of productivity on a team.
An uninspired team cannot be very efficient in their tasks and responsibilities and yield high work output.
On the other hand, when you inspire your team, the team members are driven to work harder and faster.
This would, in turn, increase productivity and work output.
More Engagement
If the level of engagement and contributions of individuals on a team and the team as a whole is low, it can be traced to a lack of inspiration.
When people are not motivated, they tend to “take a back seat” on the team, so to speak and tend to have less impact or contribution on the team.
However, when a team is inspired or motivated, everyone tends to have an active share in whatever goes on.
That is what counts as increased engagement from all your team members.
Increased Problem Solving Skills
Time and again, your team would meet with obstacles and challenges.
These tend to hinder them from reaching their goals and objectives.
At such times, having an inspired team is essential if your team will stand a chance to overcome such obstacles.
An inspired team goes the extra mile both physically and mentally towards looking for solutions to the problems they encounter.
They do not break under pressure.
Instead, they develop the best skills needed in solving problems.
Reduced Frictions on the Team
A lack of inspiration either from a particular team member or of the team as a whole can cause frustration.
More so, when people are frustrated, there is an increased chance of frictions, disagreements, and conflicts arising.
That is one other reason why you should work on inspiring your team.
An inspired team generally gets results, and when they see the dividends their efforts are paying, they are more united and avoid conflicts and workplace frictions.
It Increases Adaptability
It has been said that the only constant thing is change, which is always expected from any business establishment or organization.
Sooner or later, you would need to effect some changes required in your organization and need your team to adapt to such changes.
At such times, it would help to have an inspired or motivated team if they will adapt to such changes.
It Reduces the Rate of Absenteeism
An increase in the rate of absenteeism from work can be due to so many factors.
Among them, a lack of motivation ranks high.
When your team members are not adequately inspired at work, they tend to lose the will and the drive to show up every day for work.
However, when you work on improving or increasing team inspiration, you will find that those on your team are more dedicated and passionate about their work and avoid unnecessary absenteeism.
It Contributes to Customer Satisfaction at Work
There is a common saying that “you cannot give that which you do not have.”
This is very true for providing customer support or rendering customer service aimed at customer satisfaction and retention.
An uninspired team would do a terrible job satisfying customers or providing the needed service to make them happy and stay.
On the other hand, an inspired team goes above and beyond in its efforts to provide top-notch support for the customers of a business entity, which leads to customer satisfaction and retention.
It Helps to Attract The Best Talents
The exploits that an inspired team makes are not difficult to hide and always glaring for all to see.
When people notice how well your team performs, it builds your brand recognition and image and makes them want to be part of the team.
Additionally, inspired team members will also serve as free ambassadors, spreading good words about your organization and helping to bring in the best talents into your organization.
How to Inspire Your Team – What You Can Do
Inspiring your team and keeping them motivated doesn’t happen automatically.
Neither is it an easy task.
It takes deliberate efforts from you as the leader to put the right measures and strategies and implement them efficiently.
In this part, we will give many of the best strategies that the most successful team leaders have used to inspire their team to succeed and become a winning team.
Applying them can also provide you with immeasurable success in this area.
Here are a few things you can do to inspire your team:
Make the Goals Clear from the Onset
Few things cause a lack of motivation for employees/team members.
One of such things is not being clear about the organization’s goals they work for.
When the goals and expectations are unclear, everyone tends to do what they feel is the best in certain situations, and when it is not good enough, it causes frustration and dampens inspiration.
However, when you set clear goals and inform all team members of this from the start, it can help direct their contributions.
Seeing how their contributions push the team towards its goals and objectives would motivate and inspire them to do more.
Show Your Team Members How Their Work Impact the Team
It is not just enough to reiterate the need for your team to get better all the time without showing how each member contributes to the overall growth of the organization.
When you make it a habit to impress your team members with the need to do better, without showing them how they impact growth, there is less chance of getting results.
Individual team members want to know and see how their contributions positively impact the team as a whole.
When they see this, they are more motivated and inspired to give the work all they’ve got.
They also understand how their poor performance levels can adversely affect the team, making them more dedicated to their duties.
Therefore, when looking to inspire your team, don’t just say what they should do.
Show them how doing it benefits the team.
Take Time to Understand Individuals on your Team
A team leader needs to understand that no two people on the team are the same.
Their personality, attitudes, likes, dislikes, e.t.c differs.
Just as these traits are not the same in every employee, so are their acceptable management style and factors for inspiration.
That means that the things you would need to do to inspire some individuals on your team might differ from what would be a source of inspiration to others.
Hence, you will need to take the time to study your team not just as a group but, more importantly, as individuals.
Consider their backgrounds, stories, history, and experiences.
All these would give you clear insight into what would serve as a personal inspiration to individuals on your team.
A clear understanding of this would guide you in your quest to inspire your team as individuals and as a whole.
Provide Enough Opportunities and Support for Self Development
Regardless of how much employees love their job and the organization, they always desire their personal development.
Of course, no one wants to work for a company where they feel enslaved, doing their best to help the organization move forward whereas, their personal growth is stunted.
It is worth noting that certain things interest your team as individuals and are a part of what they hope to achieve on their career path.
You have the responsibility of ensuring you provide the opportunities and needed support for this.
This would involve providing regular training for your team.
Areas where they can improve their skills and also learn new ones are essential while training.
Additionally, there are times when individual team members would want to take up training or courses of their own volition.
More so, as a leader, you should provide the best support necessary for them to achieve this.
When your team observes your efforts towards their personal development, they know you are not selfish.
Hence, they are more inspired to give their best on the team.
Emphasize Collaboration and Teamwork
Certain individuals feel they work better in solitary or isolation from others on every team.
Such ones might have their reasons for failing to collaborate.
However, it is essential to enforce team collaboration as the benefits of this are enormous.
One of the benefits that come with collaboration and teamwork is team inspiration.
When you have a collaborative team, you get different individuals with differing skills and experience to work together.
Having this diversity of opinions, strength, and commitment can drive motivation on your team and keep your team inspired.
Provide Room for Mistakes
As a leader who is looking at inspiring his team, you shouldn’t be too hard or strict on mistakes.
You should expect and welcome failures in the line of duty because that is how innovations come about.
Therefore, if you want your team to feel inspired, especially to get creative and innovative, you should make allowance for mistakes from the team members.
And also, when such mistakes happen, don’t punish them severely.
Instead, encourage them to try again while providing more precise direction on what they can do better.
Offer Adequate Compensations as Incentive
Would you confidently say that you pay your employees what they are worth in your organization?
While several other factors motivate people aside from money, adequate compensation is still very important.
Therefore, when setting the salary structure for your organization, ensure what you offer to your team is commensurate with what is applicable in your industry.
This would go a long way in keeping your employees engaged.
And in turn, inspire or motivate them to always give their best.
Show Trust and Avoid Micromanaging
You cannot inspire your team to greatness by micromanaging them.
Employees in the workplace particularly appreciate it when their team’s leader(s) trust them.
Also, give them responsibilities to handle.
Not only that.
Also, allow them to carry out these responsibilities on their own.
Such a show of trust in your team would give them the needed inspiration to be the best.
Provide the Best Tools and Infrastructure For Your Team
Your goal as a leader should be to make work easier and simpler for your team.
This would include providing them with the best tools and infrastructure to support work.
When your team has these at their disposal, they can reach their goals easily.
This will inspire your team to do great things.
Final Thoughts on How to Inspire your Team
Do you want to build a good, effective, strong, and winning team?
Would you love to lead a team that is very productive, united, and also exceeds expectations?
If yes, then team inspiration is very important.
We hope that the strategies we’ve discussed so far would help you succeed in your role as a team leader.
