Your new employees always start working with enthusiasm. They see one challenge after another and they get energy from it. But what starts as a whirlwind full of new experiences and learning moments quickly turns into a daily grind with routine activities. Especially in the case of less varied functions that every manager has in his or her team. Always on the phone looking for customers and the same sales pitch over and over again. Or completing the same order forms over and over again as a sales support employee, it gets boring. How do you, as a manager, create more challenges in your team's work?

What causes declining motivation?

 

Most people love learning. Ever since we were babies, we have always wanted to learn. By teaching methodology we don't end up in a routine. With some exceptions, we do not like routine work, we find it boring. All the tasks have been done many times and you don't have to think about them anymore. The moment we no longer have to think, routine sets in and the work seems to take longer and longer. This is probably the cause of the decreasing motivation in your team. Your employees do everything on autopilot. The challenges that they found everywhere in the beginning, they now see more as additional work that hinders the overall picture. In addition to the challenge, the satisfaction you get from successfully solving new problems and tasks has also disappeared. Just think: if something is new and you turn out to be good at it, that's a lot of fun. If you then do it every week, the fun often disappears quickly.

'Every disadvantage has its advantage'

Cruijf already said it and who are we to contradict Cruijf! Declining motivation in your team is dangerous. It creates dissatisfied employees who are more likely to leave. However, the routine does not only have disadvantages. From the perspective of you as manager it is even an interesting fact. It may mean that your employees have mastered their tasks so well that they have time to spare or are bored. Interesting! You can now give them tasks that would have been “too much” in the beginning. They can now focus their attention on more important tasks. The condition for this is that there are other activities available within your team or organization to be tackled.

It cannot always be solved

In many cases, your employees will be able to continue to grow when they are ready for a new step. They have mastered their work and carry it out well and quickly. Additional tasks and responsibilities offer new challenges, which keeps motivation high. However, in some positions or organizations it is simply not possible to break the routine. You see this development in many service organizations, such as call centers. Growing to the position of team leader is usually the highest achievable there. The loss of challenge cannot always be solved, so accept that. In such cases, assume that your team will have a significant and regular turnover and deal with this smartly. Many changes in a team are difficult, but also offer dynamism.

LKeep your troops moving forward, but not too quickly

People are complex individuals. On the one hand, we find routine annoying, especially in the long term. On the other hand, it is also very pleasant. The habit in your work has changed into trust. And trust, that offers security. Your team is good at its tasks, and that is experienced as pleasant. As a manager you have to be one step ahead of your team. Subconsciously, your employees will eventually become bored, even though they don't realize it yet. As a team leader, you must be ahead of the lurking danger. This requires more attention from you as a manager, but it ensures that your team remains focused. Estimate for each employee when the chance of declining motivation starts to increase and then intervene. But above all, not too quickly and rigorously, because challenge should not turn into stress.

Training

Are there people within your team who want to develop further or who need more of a challenge? Perhaps ours trainings then something for your organization. Or look at Team development and learn how to create a close-knit team.