Friday feedback with Danni Liljekrans.
We start with a story.
Pernille has just returned from summer vacation. And now she's sitting there. At her desk.
It's as if the motivation didn't increase on board the plane in Gran Canaria.
It's as if the motivation stayed at the campsite or in the cottage.
And now she's sitting there. All alone. Without her motivation.
We spoke a while ago and I've been on summer vacation and I'm sure you have too. What do we need to do to get that motivation back?
I have a tip!
Because, really, motivation is... We'll hold off on that for now. Because Simon, Pernille's boss, is coming by.
Simon: "Hi Pernille, did you have a good vacation? It's good to see you again. Why don't we do a check-in during the week? I'd love to hear how things are going and maybe focus on what needs to happen now."
Pernille: "Yes, of course. We can do that."
He starts by asking how her summer has been. To reconnect with her. Then he asks:
"What is the value of what you do?" To start a dialog about why what we're doing is important.
Slowly, he begins to feel the light in Pernille's eyes.
He also asks her: "What have you done before where you solved a task that was similar to the next one here? Have you done anything similar to this one?"
Pernille replies: "Oh yes! It's actually similar to what I did last time, which went pretty well!"
Slowly but surely, Pernille starts to light up even more.
He also asks her how she is doing with staying focused. After a vacation, it may need to be practiced again.
Pernille replies: "Ah... It might be a bit more difficult. There are some emails and many colleagues to say hello to."
Pernille and Simon also talk about deadlines. Maybe they can break it down and have a deadline in three weeks' time. To get the first step to the finish line.
Simon and Pernille have a conversation about her future tasks and her motivation through four points - as identified by Piers Steel, a researcher who has conducted a large meta-analysis on procrastination and motivation.
Four things - that have a big impact on your motivation.
Okay, let's follow along. So what Simon is talking about is the formula for motivation.
The formula for motivation:
- Value: Do you know what the Value is of the work you do?
Do you know why what you are doing is important?
If you don't know why it's important, it's harder to be motivated.
- Ability: The next thing is your ability to solve the task.
What Simon does really cleverly is to draw Pernille's focus to something where she has previously solved a task similar to the one they are doing now. So Pernille is left with a feeling of: "I can do these tasks. I've done it before."
- Impulsivity: The next thing that affects our motivation is the thing that inhibits it.
One thing is our impulsivity or our urge or tendency to do other things. Checking our email, talking to friends, getting up, having a cup of coffee.
Constantly doing little other things. Checking social media or whatever has become a habit after the summer vacation.
Reduce your impulsivity and your motivation will increase because you are more able to stay in the flow of the task.
- Procrastination: And finally, "delay" or postponement - how much time is left until your goal.
If you have a deadline that is far in the future, it's a good idea to set some interim goals. In a way, it makes it more important to get started. Because it will also increase your motivation.
Simon and Pernille are in the fortunate position of having a good relationship. They've had some feedback sessions before, where one of them has said: "Hey, what can I do to support you better?". Simon might also have said: "If there was one thing I could do to help you get going after the summer vacation, what would it be?"
And finally, when he asked, Pernille replied: "I think that when I come back, I need a framework and some support to remind me why we do what we do." And now they are having this conversation.
How are things going at your end?
Are you Simon or are you Pernille? And do you need to look at motivation?
Or do you need to work on your culture so you know how to support each other? We help companies with their feedback culture, so if this is something that's holding you back, drop us a line or give us a call today and we'll be happy to work with you to create the culture you want.
Either way, thanks for stopping by and happy Friday.
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