Motivation in Project Management from the Project Manager’s Perspective
A project manager has do be able to plan the project, handle the stakeholders, create a risk analysis plan, handle the top management and the project team. But a topic that is often overlooked is the team motivating. The difference between a team that is highly motivated to solve a projects goal and a de-motivated team, could make the difference between a successful project, and a project that might never finish or is filled with complications. There is a growing awareness that people is one of the most important parts in a project. Since the beginning of the 2000 the focus has shifted from technical aspects(planning, budget optimizing etc.) to more people oriented aspects of project management such as motivation for instance. This applies for both practices and academic studies. [1] This page will go through what motivation is, why motivation is important among the project members, what happens if there is no motivation, and show theories that can help the project manager understand how he can make his project participants motivated. Motivated employees increase productivity and efficiency. In a project a project manager that does an extra effort in motivation would increase these because a motivated team has less sick days, and absenteeism and the team members could da a extra effort to be on time. The quality of the work will also be better.[2]
There are several sources of motivating the project manager can focus on in the team. This article will show how a project manager can lead and motive, go trough some of the motivational triggers, discuss some of the limitation the project manager has to motivate, and the limitations of the sources of motivation.
Contents |
Leading and motivating
Leadership in the group does not have single formular that is the right solution. Every team is different, and their needs and desires are different. There are not one leadership strategy that is better than the other too motivate. The authoritative manager might work in some project, but in other projects the participative leader works better. The good project leader is able change and adapt to the given situation. A manager that can do that will higher the motivation.
http://www.brighthubpm.com/monitoring-projects/64679-project-management-leadership-styles/
Sources of motivation
Feedback
Acknowledgement
Freedom with responsibility
Limitations to project motivation
References
- ↑ Eight to Late (2008). Motivation in project management. [online] eight2late.wordpress.com. Available at: https://eight2late.wordpress.com/2008/08/29/motivation-in-project-management/ [Accessed 15 Sep. 2016]. The author behind this blog is co-founder and principal of Sensanalytics. He has written two books about management practices, and his work on the blog is mainly based on research papers .
- ↑ Callofthewild. (2016). Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs – How to Motivate Your Staff. [online] callofthewild.co.uk. Available at: http://www.callofthewild.co.uk/library/theory/maslows-hierarchy-of-needs-how-to-motivate-your-staff/ [Accessed 16 Sep. 2016]. Call of the Wild is an independently-owned, limited company that teach management techniques to companies. They have won several awards for their work.
