10 Actions that can Destroy Your Team’s Motivation

5 min read |

Last Updated on 20 December 2023

Managing a team is not the easiest task when it comes to business management. After all, there are usually quite a few people that you have to look after and ensure that everything is working properly and everyone is doing their respective job. If you want everything to go well, you will want to avoid these ten ways to destroy your team’s motivation.

1. Choose Favorites

Choosing favorites among your team can easily result in your employees being angry at one another. You could say it is similar to the dynamics you see in a simple school class. If there is a student who gets good grades and teachers like the student, there is a big chance that other students will not like that student as much.

Instead of choosing favorites among your team – even if you really want to because you like some employees more than others – try to appreciate everyone and show that you value them for what they do and love all of their work.

2. Compare Employees

Comparing employees is also not a very good idea. Like choosing favorites, comparing employees means that you want to show that they are different – but not in a good way. You will be evaluating employees which means someone might feel bad about the “evaluation” you give them.

What you can do instead is celebrate every achievement your team has, no matter how small it is. Even if a team member had a small win, it is worth appreciating it, because this is how you show that you don’t want to compare your employees and know the value of each of them appreciating what they do.

3. Blame Employees

Playing the blame game is perhaps one of the worst things you can do while managing your team. To put it simply, you will probably end up angering your employees, even if they weren’t at fault in the first place. Moreover, if they are used to working in a team, blaming one person may result in others being angry at you too.
Rather than pointing fingers and expressing your dissatisfaction with something or someone, teach your employees to own up their mistakes and accept the fact that they are not perfect. At the same time, remember that it is also important for you to also understand that mistakes are okay.

4. Tell Them Nothing

Most administrators believe for some reason that telling nothing to employees is the right attitude to have. After all, they aren’t supposed to know things – they are supposed to work, right? Well, that is not entirely true. Keeping employees in the dark will make them suspicious and they will be less likely to trust you.
You have to tell your employees what your expectations and plans are. It doesn’t mean that you have to disclose everything that is discussed on the highest administrative levels, but you should definitely consider telling as much as you can.

5. Give Too Much Paperwork

One of the biggest challenges for employees is the huge amount of stress they need to cope with on a daily basis. Most of the time, this is the result of working too much, so if you give your employees too much paperwork, they are likely to get tired quickly which will lead to irritation in your team.
A good solution for this would be to reduce paperwork by outsourcing some of it to other companies. You can hire writers from Online Writers Rating and choose the ones that are affordable while also being regarded as top writers.

6. Underappreciate Your Employees

Telling your employees that they are doing okay but not great can significantly decrease their self-esteem and make them overly conscious about their actions and decisions. You will also notice that they will become less motivated with time if you keep up this kind of attitude.
Instead, you need to give them the praise they deserve. As mentioned earlier, celebrating achievements – big and small – will positively influence the overall mood of your team and will show each employee that they are valued and they are a part of the team like they should be.

7. Require Approval for Everything

It is really not that necessary to require everything to be approved. If you make your employees get approval from you or someone else for every step they want to make, they will feel that they are being controlled way more than they should be. Who would be motivated to work in such conditions?
Try to let your employees have some freedom. Let them make their own creative decisions and make sure that you grant them permission to do something before they start doing it so that they don’t need to get back to you every time they move on in the chain of tasks they have to complete.

8. Discuss Employees Behind Their Backs

Now, this is just a bad move whatever way you look at it. It’s bad enough that you would want to discuss anyone behind their back, especially when this is something negative you want to talk about. You probably remember how terrible it felt back in school when someone was talking about it and pointing fingers at you.
If you want to say something or complain about something an employee has done, approach them directly and say everything you want to say. But, of course, try not to sound rude and be as polite as possible. Discuss the issue and decide what to do about it.

9. Spontaneously Change Plans

Nobody claims that there won’t be situations when you have to change your plans unexpectedly, but there is a difference between changing them for a reason and doing it just because you want it. None of your employees will like that.
Every time you want to change plans, explain to your employees why you have to do so. Brainstorm ideas on how they can continue with the project so that they don’t lose their motivation for it.

10. Set High Standards

Last but not least, try not to set standards that will be too high. Your employees are not superheroes and can’t do absolutely everything you ask them too. They aren’t perfect and they too will make mistakes. Your responsibility is to be considerate about it and understand that you will have to move one step at a time to be successful.

Final Thoughts

All in all, destroying your team’s motivation is quite easy if you are not careful enough with what you say or do. Try to avoid making the mistakes listed in this article and make sure that everyone in your team is satisfied with their work environment.

Guest Author: Gregory is passionate about researching new technologies in both mobile, web and WordPress. Also, he works on writing service review websites Online Writers Rating. Gregory in love with stories and facts, so Gregory always tries to get the best of both worlds.