Your team members who have direct reports of their own may wonder how best to keep their people energized and moving on the same path toward their team's goals and vision. They may understand that "external" motivational tools — such as cash bonuses or fancy titles — have limitations. For example, such tools provide only a short-term motivational push. Team leaders who rely on external motivators discover they must provide them continuously, even increasing them, to keep their people moving forward.

"Internal" motivational tools — such as praising employees for high-quality work, designing jobs that are challenging and satisfying, and providing opportunities for growth and learning — are much more effective. However, team leaders and supervisors may not know as much about how to use these tools.

Use these resources to lead a discussion with your team about how to use internal motivational tools to keep their people inspired and committed to excelling on the job.
The discussion you have with your team members will help them take a closer look at internal motivational tools and generate ideas for using these tools to help their own teams achieve peak performance.

Working through this discussion guide can take up to 45 minutes. If you prefer a shorter 15- or 30-minute session, you may want to focus only on those concepts and activities most relevant to your situation.