How do you motivate the 80%

Question

You always have 10% of the people that are rock stars, 10% of the people that are deadbeats. How do you turn more of the 80% in the middle into rockstars?

Answer 1

I've found that lunch & learns are pretty good for this. You get to show how much of a rock star you really are and hopefully inspire the 80 % around you. Talk about something you know they'd benefit from or show a webcast/screencast/video while they're eating.

"How hard can it be?" by Andy Hunt is a good video to start with. Then move on with something more technically advanced that is relevant for your colleagues.

Answer 2

1. Feedback: People work better if you tell them periodically what they are doing right and wrong
2. Praise: People like to be praised and love to be noticed
3. Incentives: Give people a reason to excel: Worker of the month, outings, Honorable mention at team meetings
4. Group feeling: Make them feel part of the community; regular team meetings, occasional outings
5. Career advancement: People work harder if you give them the occasional course to attend, have a career path (from junior to senior to team leader (even if there's nobody on their team) etc.)

Care about your Rock Stars and treat them like upcoming Rock Stars and they will rock!

Answer 3

Try to find out what they DON'T like about what they are doing, then give them responsibility to make change in this area.

They might think the design is lousy. Give them the opportunity to be in touch with the graphic designer and provide feedback.

They might think the meetings are too long. Give them the opportunity to lead a few meetings.

They might think that the tools you're using are lousy. Give them the opportunity to investigate new tools.

The idea is to get them involved in the area's they're most motivated to improve.

Answer 4

You change the only person in the world that you can: yourself.

Develop yourself into being a better leader, so you can be more effective at influencing them. This means:

1) Reading more of the right kind of books.

2) Associating with the right kind of people.

I would look for people who have managed to do what you're trying to do, and ask them for book recommendations. Chances are you'll find a mentor too, to help in the process.

Answer 5

Try to find out what they DON'T like about what they are doing, then give them responsibility to make change in this area. [...] They might think the meetings are too long. Give them the opportunity to lead a few meetings. [...] The idea is to get them involved in the area's they're most motivated to improve.

I think that kind of thinking can lead you down a very bad path. You have to at least (and I can't stress this nearly enough) find out why they think the bad thing is bad.

Say a developer complains that too much time is spent on meetings. What he really wants is to spend his time writing code. If instead of him just having to attend the meeting he also has to spend time deciding what happens during the meeting, the effect is that he'll spend less time coding, completely the opposite result of the one he was hoping for.

Congratulations, you're an inconsiderate prick in this guy's mind now, and he feels less motivated about working hard.

Wanting something to be improved is NOT the same as wanting to be the guy who improves it. Granted, the world doesn't owe anyone a servant who'll fix what one wants fixed, but sometimes that might be a good economic decision (like hiring tech writers to write documentation if your coders won't do it).