ABCs for Managers Who Lead – Y is for Yielding Results

Let’s talk about why we do what we do. It’s to get RESULTS! No matter what our role or function, we must hold ourselves accountable for achieving and demonstrating results. This is what we mean by “yielding results” and it is the little actions we take everyday, day-in and day-out, individually and with our teams, that add up to the results we desire and are expected to achieve. Success!

What does it take for you and your team to yield results? It may be a bit different from one team to another, primarily depending on your specific function, but often it comes down to hard work and perseverance as well as a commitment to doing the best job possible.

These come from everyone on the team having a strong shared vision and the motivation to work toward it and, ultimately, achieve it.

If motivation is a factor, is it possible to motivate your team? If “yes” what methods do managers use to motivate their staffs.

We talk about extrinsic and intrinsic motivators. You might have heard the expression “the carrot and the stick.” This is an example of extrinsic motivators. Often managers try to motivate their staff by using the “stick” of commands to do things at a certain time and in a certain way – a dictatorial style that has been used for centuries. The “carrot” represents ways in which managers provide rewards for good performance.

Both of these come from “outside” of the individual and can effectively lead to compliance and are successful in performing routine tasks, but may breed resistance and limitations that undermine the creativity and engagement of the staff members. Typical incentives might include higher salaries or bonuses, being recognized as “employee of the month,” having a positive story told about the staff member in an organization’s publications, etc.

While incentives can create positive feelings, they are still extrinsic and tend to reward compliance with the organization’s policies and procedures and rarely to reward the things that are really meaningful to the staff member.

Intrinsic motivation refers to the emotions and drive that come from within an individual and drive commitment to the organization, manager and task. This is where the best ideas and results come from. However, can a manager do anything to increase this form of motivation? If it comes from inside an individual, they are either motivated or unmotivated, so can the manager do anything about that?

People are motivated by conditions in the workplace that support them in feeling like important contributors to a greater purpose which, in turn, gives meaning to what they do. They also need to feel valued by the organization enough for managers to care about their mastery of what they do and they need a certain amount of autonomy in which to exercise their creativity and explore the boundaries of what is possible. Further, reinforcement in the form of feedback and support are necessary to keep the team focused, but it should be offered in recognition of positive contribution, expanding and supporting learning, and acknowledging the importance of new ideas/creativity.

The motivating conditions a manager must create are:

Put people in positions that draw on their strengths. People are most productive and committed when their strengths match the work that they are doing because they feel that they have something that they can truly contribute to bring about an important result.
Have a professional development plan for the staff members. This doesn’t need to be something expensive or elaborate, like an outside workshop or course, but can be “stretch assignments” in the organization or opportunities to learn what other people do, shadow a senior person, or have a mentor. You might also give one or more people the challenge of working on a particularly difficult challenge facing the department that, if resolved, would make the entire department more productive or create tangible results for health care delivery and patient outcomes.
Have a career path for your staff members. This inspires people to do their best work and promote their own advancement.
Use participatory processes to engage staff in strategizing, improving processes, and decision-making. This can be very invigorating and motivates them to to take ownership of results.

Yielding results well

In addition to creating conditions for having a highly motivated team, it is important to be clear about:

What results you want to achieve and why you want to achieve them. In other words, the results have to be both desired and meaningful.
What team members will be responsible and accountable for what tasks.
What and how you will monitor progress toward the results and keep yourself and your team on track to monitor progress toward success.
Whether or not you have achieved what you set out to achieve by evaluating what has gone well and what could be improved in the future. An evaluation of this sort could be carried out regularly at the mid-term of projects and at the end. It should be clear that the evaluation is not to assess blame for problems and failures, but to determine whether or not the project is having the desired effect and how to adapt your actions if it is not.
Celebrate “wins!” When you celebrate incremental successes you not only motivate the staff, but you can also reinforce accomplishments that are moving you closer to the result you desire.