9 Ways to Motivate Your Team: Boost Engagement and Drive Results

The best managers are always looking for ways to keep their teams motivated. Whether your high-performing team is losing momentum or your low-performing team is stuck in a rut, it’s important to remember that motivation is fluid. It can be lost due to changes in the workplace, a lack of trust in leadership, boredom, or even when key team members move on to new roles.

The good news? Motivation can be reignited just as quickly as it’s lost. While turning around an entire team’s motivation may take some time, it’s possible to see a shift almost overnight.

In the past, managers often relied on extrinsic motivators like salary increases and bonuses. While these can be effective, the trend is now moving towards intrinsic motivation—where people are driven by a deeper sense of purpose, personal growth, and alignment with their values.

Below, we’ve outlined 9 strategies—a mix of extrinsic and intrinsic methods—that can help you motivate your team and keep them engaged.

1. Ensure Fair Compensation

One of the quickest ways to lose your team’s motivation is through perceived unfair compensation. If employees feel they aren’t being paid fairly for their efforts, it will be difficult to motivate them.

How to Fix It:

• Research industry salary benchmarks and ensure your team is being compensated fairly.
• If budgets are tight, consider offering non-financial incentives like flexible working hours, work-from-home options, or additional annual leave.

2. Give Employees Autonomy

According to Daniel Pink, author of Drive, one of the key drivers of motivation at work is autonomy—the sense of control over how tasks are completed. Employees are more motivated when they have the freedom to make decisions and organize their work.

How to Fix It:

• Assign projects to team members and let them manage their own workflows.
• Avoid micromanaging, but provide support when necessary to ensure success.

3. Offer Opportunities for Mastery

Another motivation driver Pink identifies is mastery—the desire to learn and improve skills. Employees are more engaged when they are given the chance to develop valuable new skills.

How to Fix It:

• Find out what skills your team members want to develop and provide training or mentorship.
• Set up peer-to-peer learning within your team, or offer external training opportunities.

4. Create a Sense of Purpose

The final motivator Pink emphasizes is purpose—the sense that one’s work has greater meaning. Employees who feel connected to a larger purpose are more likely to be motivated and committed to their roles.

How to Fix It:

• Align the team’s work with the company’s broader mission, or create a charity initiative that offers employees the chance to give back.
• Highlight how their contributions make a difference, both to the company and to society.

5. Break Down Large Projects

People often lose momentum when faced with long-term projects. To keep motivation high, it’s important to break down large projects into smaller, more manageable tasks with regular milestones and rewards.

How to Fix It:

• Divide big projects into smaller phases and celebrate each milestone with the team.
• Provide regular feedback and recognition to maintain enthusiasm and focus.

6. Introduce Incentive Schemes

Financial bonuses or other types of incentive schemes can still be effective in motivating your team. However, the key is to make the incentives both desirable and achievable for all team members.

How to Fix It:

• Offer a range of incentives, from bonuses to dinners or time off.
• Ensure that everyone has a chance to win by avoiding “highest performer” rewards. Instead, incentivize team-wide achievements or improvements in individual performance.

7. Understand Their Career Goals

Lack of motivation can stem from employees feeling stagnant in their career. If they don’t see future prospects, they may become disengaged.

How to Fix It:

• Have one-on-one conversations to understand your employees’ long-term career goals.
• Work together to create a development plan that includes training, new responsibilities, or even a path to a new role.

8. Improve Your Leadership Skills

It’s possible that low motivation stems from your management style. Improving your own leadership skills can have a direct impact on your team’s engagement.

How to Fix It:

• Experiment with new leadership tactics: ask for input, turn mistakes into learning opportunities, and communicate goals clearly.
• Avoid lengthy, unproductive meetings that drain your team’s energy.

9. Find Out Their ‘Why’

Understanding what truly motivates your team starts with knowing their deeper values and what drives them.

How to Fix It:

• Pay attention to everyday conversations or simply ask, “What’s important to you?” You may be surprised by what you learn, even from long-time team members.

A Multi-Faceted Approach to Motivation

A team without motivation won’t deliver results and will eventually lose cohesion. As a manager, one of your greatest challenges is to ensure that your team stays motivated through a combination of extrinsic and intrinsic drivers. By understanding what motivates your team members on a personal level and providing opportunities for growth, autonomy, and purpose, you can re-ignite their drive and boost performance.

Many thanks,

Alex & The Excel Team

P.S. If you would like to discuss any of your other learning & development challenges, book in your discovery call.

About Excel Communications

Excel Communications is a learning and development consultancy based near London in the U.K. For more than 30 years; we have been collaborating with clients across the globe.  

Partnering with Excel empowers you to evolve your people and business by fuelling a love for learning.   

We work with you to create unforgettably, customised learning experiences to achieve your vision of success and growth, with tangible results.   

View our case studies here.