The secret to motivating staff and other employees may surprise you and when I tell you the secret you may just stop reading the post because you'll just say to yourself "well that's stupid of course that works, now tell me something I don't know". So when I tell you the secret, promise me you'll keep reading because this secret really does work, and it's very powerful for many reasons.
So what's the secret you ask? The secret is this: People act the way you tell them they're acting. Dumb huh? Think about it though. If some one you know, or don't know walked up to you and said to you, "you are a jerk", chances are you would tell them where they could go. If not, at lease the next time you see them, you probably would not act kindly toward them. In other words, you would kind of act like a jerk.
On the other hand, if someone walked up to you and said: "You know, I've been watching you deal with some of the people around you, and I can't tell you how nice it is to see someone so friendly." Chances are, if someone said that to you in a sincere way and you believed they meant it, you would think they were very nice, and you would treat them very nicely. In fact, I would go as far as to say that when you see them, even if you are having a bad day, you would put a smile on your face and act they way they told you you were acting.
This motivation tactic works in many instances. Let's say for example that you are overly busy at work and there are customers waiting in line to see you. By ignoring those customers, you will find that eventually they seem to grow more and more on edge. If however you yelled out to the those waiting in line, "thank you all for waiting, I really appreciate how patient all of you are", you will find that you just put them all at ease and now they will all try to be more patient.
This is where it get's interesting. Let's say as another example that you turned to the line of waiting people and said instead, "sorry about the wait, I know you all are really frustrated it will just be a little longer", you will find you get the opposite effect from the first example.
Why, does this happen, because it allows the people inline to know you understand if they want to act frustrated and you open the gates to a now bigger problem. Again, this is simply because people will act the way you tell them they're acting.
Next time you see an employee who looks like they're slacking off, instead of walking up to them and saying you're being a slacker you need to get going, try walking up to them and saying wow, of all the people here, it's nice to know I can depend on you to keep busy, you are a real asset to the team. Say that, and watch what happens.
Robert_Ratliff
0 comments:
Post a Comment