Motivating Your Team (part 2): Responding to what motivates others

In the previous blogpost, we looked at different motivation types that we might see around us. There are lots of ways to pay attention to what might be motivating your colleagues in the baby room – whether that’s through conversations during recruitment and induction, or just noticing particular behaviours in team meetings or day to day.

Once you gain insights into what is motivating others, you’ll want to try and respond to these as best you can. Here are some ideas to get you going in thinking about what might benefit individuals who are motivated in particular ways.

Motivation Type	Motivation Strategies
Competence motivation involves wanting to be good at something and to make progress. It is the good feeling we have when we feel that we are competent at a task and/or getting better at it.  – you want to be good at something, you want to get better at something, you want to make progress e.g. a baby room professional who wants to feel that they’re doing their best, that they have great ideas about how to stimulate babies’ learning and development optimally	1. Clear mechanisms of feedback e.g. via regular appraisal, so that individuals know where they are doing a good job and where there is room for improvement  2. Smooth systems of mentoring and coaching so that individuals are supported to make progress in areas for improvement and to document this progress 3. Professional learning opportunities to support growing expertise
Attitude motivation involves wanting to change the world by changing the way people think and what they do. Those who have a lot of attitude motivation tend to be idealists that want things to be better and fairer than they are at the moment.	1. ‘Big question’ conversations as part of team meetings; for example, conversations around children’s health and wellbeing and what can be done to support this in the baby room 2. Opportunities to participate in wider conversations in the sector about its future and how to make it fairer and better for children and families
Creative motivation involves the desire to express yourself creatively and fulfil your creative potential. Those with a lot of creative motivation take pleasure in creative tasks.	1. Opportunities to take on creative tasks and initiatives that may be ‘auctioned off’ during team meetings (e.g. re-design of the baby area in the garden, or research around sensory activities to implement over summer) 2. Invitations to reflect on current practice and ask for ideas and suggestions to support with children’s play and creativity 3. Professional learning specifically relating to creativity and creative development
Achievement motivation involves feeling good about completing tasks and being recognised for the completion of those tasks. We feel achievement motivation when we get to the end of our ‘to do’ list or we achieve a goal that we had set for ourselves.	1. Objective setting as part of regular appraisals, with clear systems for reviewing these objectives 2. Day to day interactive ‘to do’ lists in the baby room that relate to routines and plans, which professionals can tick off 3. Expressing explicit gratitude for the completion of specific tasks
Affiliation motivation involves the desire to feel a sense of belonging with those around us. Those with high affiliation motivation want to experience being part of a team. They feel unsettled when the social dynamics around them are unclear or lack warmth.	1. Building a positive team culture with a sense of belonging and community through: a. Laid-back socialising that supports colleagues to form connections to each other b. Modelling day to day connection behaviours e.g. starting the day by checking in with each other and saying thank you to each other at the end of the day
Incentive motivation involves feeling motivated by receiving something when you complete a task. This could be something tangible like a bonus, a payrise or a certificate. It might also be something less tangible, such as a change in status as indicated by a new job title.	1. Clear routes for progression within the organisation (you may need to discuss this with the nursery manager) so that individuals know when and how they can expect to progress 2. Objective-setting as part of appraisal and review processes, but clearly tied to tangible outcomes and incentives (e.g. a new job title)

Which of these strategies are already in place in your baby room?

Which do you see working already to support motivation?

Which strategies would you like to develop further?