“Who in this world likes Monday?” If you identify yourself with this question or know someone who does, I’m glad I found you. Believe me: that coldness attitude in relation to the company, or the constant feeling that their wage is unfair, it does not necessarily depends on the others’ sympathy – or antipathy – or the cash monthly received. To find out how to motivate employees, you shall know when they feel underutilized, constrained in their decisions and sterile within the company. It’s up to the manager to discover if each one could explain on what he/she works – and why. Never as a challenge, but during some talking about the direction (where we go) and the path (where we go) of the work. If he/she does not know, it’s your role guiding them. Check out four tips to improve or even recover the motivation of your team:

1. What’s the direction?

Imagine you have opened your business, because of freedom to build a better life for you and the ones you love, to help people or to leave the world better than you found. What moves you are these great goals, not a routine when targets are met. That’s what binds Sunday night to Monday morning. Help your employees understand their roles within the company’s puzzle. Many teams procrastinate because they don’t think there’s harm in postponing certain tasks, so you should explain the chain necessary to achieve the major goals. Proposing goals to encourage the participation of employees can be rewarding, but only after each one discover their value, their difference within the company. And if there’s no value to be found, only simple repetition that anyone can accomplish, change the path.

2. And what’s the path?

As Stanislavski says about Theater: there are no small parts, only small actors. The underused worker sees the company as a boring and selfish which underpays. And there can only be one reason: no transparency. Tasks delegated by all and for all, shuffling concentration and timing, no priority to perform tasks and reports kept confidential. Communication is the most promising way of working, even the only effective. An advice: encourage people to work within a standard working day – eight hours. Thus, they will understand the importance of family, studies, friends and hobbies and they will work better after seeing that job is also a fundamental part of their daily lives, but not all of it. Another good point: small and medium companies have attracted young people interested in gaining experience in different areas of the same business, since the team is leaner. One of the best practices is creating a career plan for them and extend this model of encouraging new experiences for all professionals.

3. What matters?

Even more than the satisfied ones, the discouraged employees influence the team, by highlighting their problems in relation to other colleagues, the boss and company policies. Lunches in a dissatisfaction atmosphere are not rare at all. To solve it, identify them and call for a chat. Pay attention to what they say, how they say, and analyze what you can do instantly (not always the solution is in your hands). Present a more open policy work, which allows to listen, study and heed some suggestions, either in small everyday actions or in the work processes. Do you want some tip? Support the training of your employees in their areas, by indicating readings, exercises or bankrolling courses. Invite your team for an informal lunch – have you ever wondered that a friendship may be wasted by lack of contact? It’s not just about drinking or eating together, but talking with no tension, it’s about discovering stories and desires in commons. That excites.

4. And what more motivates?

Trust between boss and employee is such a great gain, but it only survives when there’s recognition for successes. If you motivate someone to take certain actions, but don’t reward for it, when returning with a new goal to meet, you will find a tired and upset employee. Your team should come to you to recharge, not to be drained. The mantra is: recognize the past to be recognized in the future.

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