We’ve all felt it ourselves from time to time. Those days or weeks when motivation deserts us and time passes by without much feeling of achievement. Sooner or later something tends to come along to snap us out of it; a crisis, a deadline, a new project or even a dreaded Official Information Act request which sees us jump to attention and regain our focus. Aside from relying on a series of crises to spur us on, how can we avoid these lulls in motivation – both for ourselves and our team members?
Professor Dan Cable, of London Business School, writes in a recent HBR article that the underlying reasons for lack of motivation can be found in biology. Feelings of boredom and loss of passion are biology’s way of telling us we’re meant for better and more worthwhile things. Rather than resisting these feelings, the solution is to take on challenging but meaningful tasks. Through such tasks we receive a dose of dopamine, the brain’s natural checmical associated with feelings of reward and pleasure.
According to Professor Cable there are three ways to trigger this rewarding rush of dopamine;
First, allow for self-expression and encourage staff to use their unique strengths. For example, if a staff member gets a kick out of creating slick presentations, allow for this rather than restricting them to a standard ‘official’ template.
Second, encourage staff to experiment with new ideas and methods. While experimentation always comes with the risk time will be wasted on ideas that don’t end up working, the increase in intrinsic motivation we get from itrying new things is well worth the risk.
Third, understanding our purpose is a key component of motivation. Without a sense of our team’s purpose and its contribution to outputs, motivation is unlikely. Professor Cable writes that instilling this sense of purpose is unlikely to come from speeches or pep-talks from managers, but from first hand experience of what our organisations produce or do.
As Public Sector finance professionals our motivation and that of our team members will always wax and wane to some extent. However, by encouraging self-expression, experimentation and making sure our teams have a clear sense of purpose, motivation and engagement can thrive.
