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Aim
Are team members driven by successfully completing a task, by leading others, by gaining status, or by having a sociable time within the team?
Completing this exercise will help all team members to reflect on what motivates them at work, which will in turn help them to understand the way in which they interact with colleagues. It will take around 20 minutes to complete.
Learning Objectives
Participants will be able to…
- identify their favored approach to motivation
Suggested Resources
- facilitator's response grid
What to Do (10 minutes)
- Distribute the individual exercise to any team members who wish to understand their motivations more clearly. You could also distribute it to a pair of colleagues who have had difficulty interacting successfully in the past. By understanding their motivations, they may find ways to compromise when working together.
- The exercise is also useful for those seeking to analyze the motivations of other colleagues within the team. For any of these purposes, the exercise should be completed in quiet reflection.
Review Activity and Apply Learning (10 minutes)
- After the participants have completed the task, hand out the response grid so that they can mark their responses. You should also answer any questions or queries they may have.
- Give out the interpretation sheet so that participants can read about their motivation type.
- Ideally, you should all move on to the exercise entitled ‘Understanding Motivation’ which builds on this diagnostic.
- If you wish to facilitate a feedback session – where you encourage a discussion with a team member about his/her motivations – you can use the response grid that follows, which will give you a complete run-down of the behavioral characteristics attached to each orientation.
What Motivates You? - Task Sheet
Do you understand what motivates you at work? Do you understand the motivation of other team members? Completing this exercise will give you an insight into the motivations of yourself and others, which will increase your chances of negotiating effectively.
Motivation is a very relevant issue when considering how you communicate, particularly if you need to influence or persuade another individual or group. The knowledge gained will help you to take a more considered approach to communication and to tailor your methods appropriately.
If you are using the exercise to analyze someone else, there are two ways you can go about it. You could photocopy the questionnaire and ask him/her to complete it and return it to you. Alternatively, you could place yourself in his/her shoes and respond to the statements as if you were him/her. The circumstances, your purpose, and how well you know the individual will help to determine your approach. However, remember that, if you ask the individual to complete the questionnaire, you will probably have to explain why and give him/her appropriate feedback.
Task
- Read all the statements and tick those that best describe you.
- Take the Response Grid below and circle those numbers that correspond to the statements that you ticked. You should find that your answers cluster around one column. This reveals your motivational orientation.
- The sheet entitled ‘Interpretation’ briefly describes the approach that you have identified.
Response Grid
Achievement-orientated
Affiliation-orientated
Security-orientated
Influence-orientated
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You will be given feedback on the results, and an explanation of the motivational categories.
