How To Keep Your Team Motivated During Crunch Times

People at your workplace might go through crunch times when they fight against time to complete a project within the deadline. Ideally, you want your workforce to plunge themselves in work with full-on enthusiasm and energy rather than being dreadful about what’s in the offing. So, what do you need to do to perk themselves up when there is a lot of work to do and the team has already started feeling the pressure? How do you discuss the project or the time limit so that your workforce doesn’t feel intimidated? How do you keep track of the stress levels that they are going through at that point? Here is what needs to be discussed.

Positive Energy Plays a Key Role

Before you initiate anything as a manager, do check where you stand emotionally. In case you are anxious, worried, or frustrated regarding a project, there is no way you can exhibit that in front of your team members. You need to be a guiding force for them and instill confidence within them. Remember, you are a leader and you have to motivate yourself first and be at an emotional high. Make your team realize why the work they will be undertaking is important for everyone and what benefits they are going to derive from it. Crunch times can prove to be great learning experiences. There are a lot of ups and downs associated with critical projects that are often time-sensitive. If the team members feel the crunch most of the time, they wouldn’t be as productive as required. Their effectiveness too will be called into question.

Express Empathy

Once you connect yourself to the work and the purpose it holds, pass the details to your team members. Instead of handing over the deliverables and the deadline, convey why the project needs to be executed and what are the objectives that need to be attained. The taste of success is pretty pleasant and you need to make them realize that. Be honest and frank with your knowledge and admit that the responsibilities and sacrifices that are involved. A tight schedule might involve late nights and work on the weekends as well. This is where you require to express empathy. Don’t forget to convey your solidarity. Tell them you are a team and you guys will grind things out together. Keep it in mind that maintaining camaraderie within the team is mandatory and for that, you have to gel well with the members.

Consider the Milestones

Segregating the entire work into managing chinks can make things easy. By doing this, the deliverable would be less daunting overall. You can set short-term objectives for yourself for every phase which, in turn, helps the team create accountability and inch closer to the main goal. After completing a particular phase, take a breather and check if you guys are on the right track or not. If changing your path is required, do that without wasting much time. These phases are milestones. When the team accomplishes a milestone, the confidence levels get boosted. The members feel good about the progress they have made and that itself is inspiring enough. Don’t forget to consider the way deadlines might affect the pace with which your team works.

Be Rational While Giving Incentives

Nothing can be more motivating at the workplace than incentives and rewards, and there is simply no second doubt about it. After the successful completion of a project within the stipulated time, a celebration is what everyone needs at that hour. After months of perseverance and hard work, there is nothing wrong with expecting something good in return. As a manager, you need to recognize your team’s efforts. Rewards can be in the form of giving the Friday afternoon off, taking the team members out for lunch, or invite everyone at an ice-cream social too. Intrinsic rewards are any day, better than extrinsic ones.

Your team is your strength. Whatever the objectives are, the team, on the whole, would have to accomplish that. Completing a project within a fixed period requires a team effort and it is never a single individual’s responsibility. Motivating each member of your team is mandatory if you want your team to meet the set targets.