Establish Accountability - People do what they want
Now that may seem like stating the blatantly obvious, but think about it for a second. Do you constantly have to harass, berate and cajole your team into working on projects? Then chances are, you are not giving them the work they want to do. You need to understand what your team enjoys or despises, and then start playing to their strengths. The truth is most people do what they are requested to do because they believe it is the right thing to do, or are scared of the consequences of not fulfilling the request. Which group would you sooner be working worth? If you know that a member of your team is a huge fan of a certain technology, and they get the chance to adopt that technology or a competing one, which one are they most likely to chose? You need to make sure you are setting your team up for success by ensuring they believe they are working on the right thing, and that the work they do matters! Are your customers going to provide repeat business if you offer poor quality products? Could your service be better provided by someone else? Ensure that your team is working on something they care about; that way, when they have a choice of what to spend their time and effort on, it aligns with what you hope it will, and drives value for your customers. The statement, “You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink,” relates directly to the fact that people will always do what they want to do in the end. You may be able to coerce them in the short term, but over the long haul, unless you provide a motivator that aligns with what they want to do, accountability and productivity will suffer.
People do what they want. Again, it’s obvious, but the statement is simplicity on the far side of complexity. Think about how many times you have been frustrated with someone deviating from the task at hand. The truth is, the best people to have working with you are like volunteers; no amount of money or external motivation can cause people to care. It’s up to you to get them to understand what they are working toward, and entice them to care about getting things done.
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