Revitalizing Your Team: Motivation Strategies That Work - Episode 188

If you've ever felt that your team is just going through the motions, disengaged, underperforming, and lacking that spark, you know the pain all too well. I've been there too, and even when I thought I had everything running smoothly, I found out that the energy for everyone wasn't there. Now, I used to rely on the hope that referrals and good work would happen naturally, but I learned quickly that it takes a structured approach to truly revitalize your team.

Today, I'm sharing the strategies my team used, along with me, to turn things around. And believe me, it wasn't just about flashy incentives, it was about building an environment where every team member felt valued, inspired, and connected to a larger vision. I'm excited to share this with you in the hopes that it can help you in your own business.

Welcome to the Budding Entrepreneur Podcast.

Good day, and welcome to the Budding Entrepreneur Podcast. I'm your host, Randy Bridges.

In each episode, we dive into practical business strategies that you can put to work in your business right away. We also focus on inspiring stories from leaders who are shaking and making things happen in their industry. It's all about giving you the tools and insights to take you and your business to the next level.

So get comfortable, and let's jump right in. 

All right, all right. We are on episode 188 of the podcast, and today is Friday, February 28th, 2025.

In this session, we're diving into one of the most transformational changes an owner can make for their business, revitalizing their team. And we're going to use my experience to help make the process a little more down to earth. Now, last week, we discussed decision fatigue from the owner's perspective.

But it's important to remember that this kind of challenge affects not just you, but your team as well. The easiest sign to spot of that fatigue spreading is a disengaged team. Because a disengaged team doesn't just hurt morale, it stifles growth.

And when your people are underperforming, your whole business can feel it. I've seen it happen to friends and to clients, and I've experienced it firsthand. So today, I'm going to share how my top team and I turned that all around.

We were able to focus on clear steps, ones that you can implement if you're facing that same challenge in your business. And to make this a little more relevant, I'm going to share a personal story about how that team made it possible for me to invest myself fully in motivating the team and driving my vision forward, all without destroying operations or working myself to overload in the process. For our agenda, here's what we're going to cover in today's session.

We're going to look at a powerful quote from Zig Ziglar to set our tone. We're going to look at the hidden costs of having a disengaged underperforming team. We'll look at some proven strategies to motivate and energize your team.

How to create a magnetic workplace culture that truly inspires. And then I'm going to cover that personal story on how I handed off daily tasks to an operator and transformed my business. So let's jump right in, shall we? For our quote of the week, Zig Ziglar once said, you don't build a business, you build people and then people build the business.

Now, this quote hit me hard because it reminds me that real success isn't just about processes or strategies. It's about investing in people. When you truly build up your team, everything falls into place.

Today's discussion is all about putting that philosophy into action. Now let's talk about the cost of a disengaged team. Let's be honest.

When your team is disengaged, the impact is more than just numbers on a spreadsheet. We've all seen firsthand how low morale leads to missed deadlines, stifled creativity, and ultimately lost opportunities. Think about it.

Low engagement, when your team doesn't feel connected to their company's mission, they barely show up mentally, let alone give their best. With high turnover, constantly losing talent means you're always hiring and training, which disrupts the continuity of being in business. And then there's missed opportunities, where a disengaged team won't bring fresh ideas or energy, and that can stall your entire business.

I remember a time when our productivity dipped dramatically because the team seemed drained and uninspired. It wasn't just about work getting done. It was about the energy, the passion, and the innovation that evaporated when people didn't feel valued.

So how did it all get turned around? Well, here's what my top team and I did collectively to reinvigorate our team. First, we focused on clear communication and vision. We started by holding regular meetings where I shared not just our targets, but the big picture, our mission, our values, and how every role contributes to our success.

In a lot of cases, I would talk to people and bring out what they were achieving that represented those values, that mission, how their role is making a difference. And it gave everybody a really clear idea of what that meant. It wasn't just words that were being spoken.

It was actions that were being taken that represented the same thing. And so when people understand the why, they become much more engaged. The second area was in recognition and reward.

We made it a point to celebrate every win, no matter how small. A heartfelt thank you or a quick shout out in the team huddle goes a long way. And when team members feel appreciated, their energy and commitment naturally increase.

The third thing we did was empowerment and involvement. We opened up decision making to the team as a whole. Instead of micromanaging, which is what a lot of companies will do, we gave each team a voice in how we tackle projects.

Keep in mind, I said team. We broke our business up as an agile framework and had small teams that all worked on different parts of things together so that we could get group thinking going on, which could provide many new ideas. And it allowed a sense of ownership that not only boosted morale, but it also led to a lot of innovative ideas.

And the final thing was we began building a collaborative culture. We created calm channels for honest, open feedback. We made it anonymous.

If the person chose to put their name on it, that was their choice. But I realized, and we talked as a team, we know that when people feel connected to one another, they're more likely to support each other. And that makes a workplace truly magnetic. We'll be talking about that. 

Now, we're not talking about team exercises that involve trust circles and that kind of stuff, right? I let the managers of each department of each team, I let the managers of each team hear out ideas, focusing heavily on open lines of communication. And then those team leaders and managers brought those ideas to me with their reasons to implement those ideas.

So it wasn't just from a team perspective or an individual perspective. It was filtered through the manager or the team leader's perspective that allowed it to get even more important information to me. Now, ultimately, it completely changed how I saw the ideas of the company.

And as a whole, it helped me get new ideas and decisions closer to the clients, as well as the people who implement everything. And here's an extra piece from my own journey. Quite a few years ago, when I was first getting my feet wet as an owner of a managed service provider involved in IT, my team experienced a growth cycle as new clients came on board.

And because we were good at what we did, we grew faster than anyone thought we would, myself included. As you can imagine, with any kind of major growth, there was less and less time for me and the top people to pass knowledge and experience to the rest of the team. Even with automation, it was next to impossible to build any real systems because we had no time.

And that also meant that a lot of the knowledge work fell on to me, right along with putting out the daily and weekly fires. So it was a real challenging time. And if you've ever been in business for more than five minutes, you know what I'm talking about.

Very quickly, I realized I was getting bogged down in the day-to-day operations. I was making every small decision myself, which left me with little time or energy to focus on my team. So on something of a dare from one of my team leads, I brought in an operator, a trusted partner, to help me manage the day-to-day systems and to structure the automation and processes.

That way, I could focus on high-level strategy and team motivation. This change was transformative. Overnight, our processes became smoother, and I felt that the team became more empowered and engaged because I was able to actually work directly with them.

I found that I suddenly had time to think, to plan, and to spend more time with new clients as well. Meanwhile, my more senior engineers were able to take care of my established clients without relying only on me. Spoiler! I want to dive deeper into the operator concept in our next episode, because it's a game plan every professional service business of any kind can benefit from, and it's one that my team and I focus on exclusively.

So we'll put that on the calendar and lock it in for next week. Let's talk about creating a magnetic workplace culture. A magnetic workplace is more than perks and casual Fridays.

It's about building an environment where every person feels aligned with the company's vision and supported in their own personal growth. Now, here's what it looks like. There are three parts.

Alignment and vision. Make sure everyone understands the bigger picture and how their role is crucial to both alignment and vision. Second, supportive environment.

Create a space of trust, open communication, and continuous improvement. And many times you might be surprised that your own team wants to provide that continuous improvement for themselves. And finally, consistent motivation.

Regular recognition, feedback, and opportunities for growth will keep the energy high and the team focused. And if you've ever had a small dog or a cat, something like this, that they're learning, especially if they're a kitten or a puppy, you need to make sure that your motivations are consistent. The word no isn't the best word for them because pretty soon everything becomes no.

So let's reference that back into here. When your workplace culture is magnetic, talent stays, it thrives, and it drives your business forward. So let's take a quick recap and a sneak peek at next week.

We covered four major topics. A disengaged team costs you more than you think, whether that's in morale, innovation, and even revenue, they all can suffer. Two, revitalizing your team starts with clear communication, genuine recognition, and true empowerment.

Three, creating a magnetic workplace culture is about aligning daily operations with vision and nurturing every member of your team toward that. And four, personally, I learned the value of delegating day-to-day decisions to an operator, which allowed me to focus on motivation and strategic vision. For the sneak peek, we've already talked about it.

The next episode, the topic is going to be your operator as your secret growth weapon. We'll dive into how this seldom used position can unlock new opportunities and drive your business forward. 

That's it for this episode. I hope you picked up some valuable insights and maybe even sparked a few new ideas. If you want to keep the conversation going, or maybe even explore partnerships, don't hesitate to reach out. And hey, don't forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share this with someone who needs to hear it.

The steps you take today could be the start of something big tomorrow. For The Budding Entrepreneur, I wish you the best in your health, your wealth, your business, your family, everything about you. Take care, and we'll see you back here next week.