Smart business owners know that there’s a direct link between motivating team members and the success of that business.
Want a good example of why you should be one of these smart managers?
Let’s imagine that your best associate/dental nurse has just resigned. How much will it cost directly and indirectly to find, hire, train and get that replacement up to the right level? The answer is: maybe months or years. Scary, huh? Now ask yourself if you could be in jeopardy of losing team members merely because you aren’t motivating them.
There are many ways to successfully motivate your team and all of them require owners/managers to focus on the human beings with whom they work, and who desire to find their own success. Consider these six motivational elements.
1. Communication.
There’s nothing more fundamental to having loyal, productive and engaged team members than good communication. If you’re having problems, the low-hanging fruit for you may be to just start talking with – not to – your people.
2. Professionalism.
This is the aggregation of proper business, ethical and interpersonal behaviour, and it’s critical to successful team motivation. Professionalism fosters pride and team loyalty. Demonstrate your professionalism first and then help your team achieve and value their own professionalism. And don’t forget to recognise their progress.
3. Management style.
Check yours. Are you a leader or a driver? Managers who are drivers disregard others, consume people as a means to their end, and are identified by high staff turnover. Leaders value their people and encourage them to be successful. They can be identified by the double-digit numbers representing how many years their team members have been with them, and the multiple black digits to the left of the decimal on their bottom line.
4. Training and development.
Team training pays operational and motivational dividends. It fosters knowledge, which fosters self-confidence, which fosters leadership, which fosters loyalty, which fosters patient loyalty, which fosters your bank account. How’s that for a training straight line to return-on-investment?
5. Recognition.
When talking about what your practice has achieved, be sure to manage your pronouns properly. Whenever “I” can be replaced with “we,” do it. This tiny 2-letter pronoun is a powerful verbal high-five that resonates motivational energy throughout your team.
6. Fun.
Fun is very motivational. Make sure your practice finds ways to have fun at work. The people I know who are the most successful and the happiest are those who take their work very seriously, but don’t take themselves too seriously.
