Motivating project teams

Motivation is commonly referred to in the management literature as being the intensity, direction and persistence that people apply to their work. It is a force emanating from a person’s desire to achieve something. In the work context, motivation is the desire to accomplish tasks and to meet goals and expectations.

Work teams that are highly motivated to achieve objectives can be the difference between a project that goes well and one which is frustrated by complications. Therefore, taking an interest in what motivates each individual member of the project team should be meaningfully considered by every project manager.

The project manager is most often a team leader, which is different to the typical manager role. While management revolves predominantly around administration and organisation, leadership involves being a motivator, an influencer and a good example. While traditional functional managers typically control 'hygiene' factors like salary, job security, company policy and the like, project managers have a significant influence on 'motivator' factors such as recognition, achievement, responsibility and the work itself.1 These 'motivator' factors are closely connected with one of the most powerful forms of motivation: intrinsic motivation.

What makes intrinsic motivation powerful? Quite simply, it is derived from feeling a personal connection with the achievement of project goals and outcomes. A controlled form of motivation compels a person to do a task due to an external influence, like a manager's directive. However, team members who are intrinsically motivated will do all they can to make the project successful, because they are self-motivated to perform project tasks, because they obtain personal satisfaction from the project outcomes.2

Fostering intrinsic motivation should be a priority for every project manager, because team members will work to achieve project goals not just because they have to, but because they want to. So how can a project manager support individual and team motivation throughout the duration of a project?

One way is by taking the time to understand what actually motivates each individual team member. Research has found that understanding each individual team member's needs, desires and goals, and using this knowledge to personalise motivational strategies, is one of the most effective ways a project manager can support both individual and team motivation.3

Another way is by instilling a sense of ownership of the project for all team members, and participatory management is a powerful way to do this. For example, including team members in decisions around the creation of a project's work breakdown structure allows them to develop a personal connection with it and have the satisfaction of knowing they helped create it, and that it was not just created externally and imposed upon them.4 While it is impractical to involve team members in all project decisions, involvement where possible has significant benefits. An Australian study found that high performance workplaces (those with high levels of innovation, productivity, employee engagement, quality of life and fairness) are linked to high levels of participatory management, with the strongest correlations being participation in decision making, planning and target setting, strategy and the interactive use of accounting information.5

Finally, a group of intrinsically motivated individuals is unlikely to guarantee project success unless there is also strong synergy between team members to facilitate strong team performance. Unlike a group of people merely brought together to achieve a goal, an effective team shares common objectives and cooperates as a single organism for the entire duration of the project.6 Creating a shared vision for the team can be done by enhancing collective identity.

Clearly, understanding what intrinsically motivates each team member should be a priority for project managers. Hopefully this article has provided a brief picture of why intrinsic motivation is important, and how project managers can go about fostering intrinsic motivation in their team.

Footnotes

1. Refer to Frederick Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory.

2. Schmid, B & Adams, J 2008, “Motivation in Project Management: The Project Manager’s Perspective”, Project Management Journal, Vol. 39, No. 2, pp. 60-71.

3. Peterson, TM 2007, “Motivation: How to Increase Project Team Performance”, Project Management Journal, Vol. 38, No. 4, pp. 60-69.

4. Schmid, B & Adams, J 2008.

5. Boedker, C, Vidgen, R, Meagher, K, Cogin, J, Mourtisen, J & Runnalls, M 2011, Leadership, Culture and Management Practices of High Performing Workplaces in Australia: The High Performance Index, Australian School of Business, University of New South Wales, Sydney.

6. Lester, A 2014, Project Management, Planning, and Control, 6th edn, Elsevier Ptd, Kidlington, Oxford.