Watch our short video that explains how to get the best from your team.

For an organisation to be successful and effective, it is crucial to have a team that is engaged and motivated. Although everybody can have different motivations at different times, there are certain things you can do to maximise the potential for engagement from the team.

A happy team will ensure a productive workplace, and there’s a lot a leader can do to support this.

• Communication is essential.
  Be open and honest with your team by making sure they have a clear understanding of your organisation’s mission, vision and plans. Listen to their ideas and give them feedback.  Positive feedback can increase engagement so don’t wait to give it in periodic appraisals. Negative feedback is just as important and should be fair and focussed, but ensure people have time to respond.

• Show your team they are valued.
  Voluntary, community and social organisations are rarely able to offer financial rewards to their paid or unpaid employees, so find other ways of showing recognition. This could be anything from a verbal, written, or public acknowledgement of praise, or providing refreshments for the next team meeting. Giving extra responsibilities can show that you trust and have confidence in the team, but make sure they are comfortable with this and have the necessary skills and training required.

• Offer opportunities for training and development.
  There are a lot of formal training courses available, but don’t feel restricted to these.  Look at opportunities for networking and support sessions with people in similar roles both in your organisation and externally. Give people time to shadow or become mentors.

• Provide clear and realistic goals, targets, and objectives to the team.
  It’s hard to be effective if team members have no guidance on their objectives. Where possible, involve the team in setting the goals, as well as other organisational decisions. A team will feel more involved and motivated if they have the opportunity to contribute.

• Try to avoid disputes at an early stage.
  Conflict can happen when descriptions of roles are unclear when there is a lack of support or just a clash of personalities. Disputes can have a detrimental effect on team morale and performance. The risk of conflict can be reduced by having clear roles, responsibilities, good leadership, and communication. Conflict can’t always be avoided though so try to spot it early, meet with those involved and mediate to resolve any issues.

Find out what motivates your team, in order give you an understanding of what is important to them as individuals. If an individual needs flexibility in their role what are the options and is it relevant. If they need more or less support, find a way to build this into your framework. If the needs of the team or organisation as a whole are being met, then responding to individual needs can be one of the most effective ways to build a loyal and engaged team.