How To Motivate Others

How To Motivate Others

There are likely to be times in your life when you need to motivate others. The obvious examples here are where you have management responsibilities at the company you work for or you own a business and employ people. But there are other times that you can motivate others as well.
If you are a parent then you will want to motivate your children to do well at school. Maybe you are a sports coach and need to give your team a lift after a string of disappointing results. Or you could just want someone to help you and you need to motivate them to do this.

So here are 6 great tips for motivating others:

1. Listen to others

A lot of people find it really difficult to listen to others. There might be a number of different reasons for this but the reason really doesn’t matter. You need to practice listening to people so that you can understand what drives them and what they want to do.
In a business scenario too many managers will just deliver a speech and expect everyone to be super motivated from this. Sometimes this can work but it is always a good idea to listen. When you know what the other person is looking for you can refer to this to motivate them.

2. Ask the Right Questions

Another great way to motivate others is by asking them the right questions. Always use open ended questions to find out what you need to know. So if you want someone to help you with something you could ask “I understand you are an expert so how would you approach this?” The person will be motivated by the fact you think they are an expert.

3. Provide Encouragement

People like to receive encouragement. Sometimes they may feel that the thing that you want to do is beyond their capabilities or will take them out of their comfort zone. So say to them that you truly believe in them and that you know they can do it.

4. Get them to tell you how they will approach the problem

After you have encouraged a person to do something then boost their motivation by asking them how they will approach the task. So you can ask them what steps they are going to take or what they will do first. When they respond to you give them more encouragement for coming up with the idea.

5. Offer your help to others

This is a good motivational tactic where you will not usually have to do anything other than make an offer of help. When you have asked someone to do something for you and they have agreed tell them that if they need your help you will be there for them.
People will appreciate you making this offer. It will motivate them because they know that you will be their support system if they need it. Most people will want to solve the problem themselves so it is fairly unlikely they will ask for your help. If they do ask then you must provide it.

6. Following Up

Don’t just ask others to do things for you and not check with them how well they are doing. A follow up session can be very motivating for another person. In the first place you are showing an interest in them and secondly you are there to help if they are having any difficulties.