Motivation Equation and Orientation

While the inspiration approach is certainly the more appealing of the two motivational methods, sometimes there has to be an element of “desperation.” I don’t mean that you want to cause your team members to feel despair, but sometimes things that push us away have to be present just as much as things that draw us near. The main reason for this recommendation is that if inspiration isn’t quite enough, your prospects may just simply fall into inactivity. That is, they fall into a comfort zone.

I’ve developed a grid that maps out the different motivators, their varying degrees and the effects they have on others. Draw a horizontal and an intersecting vertical axis on your paper. On the left of the horizontal axis, write “Desperation.” On the right of the horizontal axis, write “Inspiration.” At the top of the vertical axis, write “Internal” and at the bottom of the vertical axis, write “External.” In the Internal Inspiration quadrant, write the letter “A.” In the External Inspiration quadrant, write the letter “B.” In the Internal Desperation quadrant, write the letter “C.” In your last quadrant, External Desperation, write the letter “D.”

The central region is the comfort zone, where we experience complacency. How do you get someone on your team to move outside the middle? Let’s start with the short-term, easy form of motivation, quadrant D, where we find external desperation. You apply an external pressure to force someone into action. In other words, your team members must do what you say or they’re fired. “Hit these numbers or pack your bags.” Sure, it will work temporarily, but long-term consequences will result.

The next area of the Motivation Equation is quadrant C, where we find internal desperation. Desperation motivation can be made internal if you can use your prospects’ sense of duty or obligation to get them to move. Internal motivation works something like this: “I’m getting paid, so I guess I have to do this. If I don’t do this, the team will miss its quota.” You can see that in both of these examples, the person is acting of her/his own initiative but only out of obligation or to avoid a worse consequence.

So, is there a place for either of these latter two motivational approaches? Yes, but use them sparingly. Most teams will not put up with this treatment unless they know it is tough love. Every once in a while, when other things have failed, you can use these types of motivation. You have to let your team know not only that there are positive consequences for their actions, but if they don’t perform, there may be negative consequences as well. There has to be a baseline or a standard from which to evaluate the situation. Your team members can’t think that no matter what they will always have a job. Let’s face it—sometimes we all need a kick in the pants. When we do resort to this approach, it’s usually a negative circumstance based on desperation. Just don’t go overboard or take it to the extreme. Make sure before you use any negative reinforcement that your sales rep has the tools s/he needs to get the job done. Does s/he need more training? Does s/he know exactly what you expect and how to do it?

The next quadrant is quadrant B, where we find external inspiration. Here, it is still external factors that influence you, but this time in a positive way. You are inspired and energized rather than acting simply to avoid pain. External inspiration is getting on the right motivational track because it can grow into internal inspiration. Sometimes, this quadrant is referred to as “borrowed light.” It’s OK to be guided and inspired by borrowed light until you’ve lit your own flame. At least this kind of motivation keeps you progressing in a positive way. Even with external influences, this type of motivation can produce long-term effects because it is inspiring and thus begins to tap into your inner emotions.

The best type of motivation is internal motivation, as shown in quadrant A. This quadrant is what we call passion. There’s no stopping the person who has found inspiration that is purely internally driven. You can wind her/him up and s/he’ll go on forever.

Hopefully, this chapter has given you lots of ideas on how to help individual team members as well as your team as a whole feel more motivated. As I said earlier, this material will apply to certain people in certain situations and will help them learn to find the right tools. The point is, you possess the knowledge and are equipped to take on any situation. Review this chapter anytime you need to give your team a boost, or even just to keep current momentum going. Of course, any of these suggestions may be adapted to suit your team’s specific needs.

Questions

1. Why is the mindset of your sales force the foundation of your success?

2. What are three ways in which you can praise and recognize your team? How will you implement these strategies?

3. Gallup Consulting Group has spent more than two decades interviewing hundreds of thousands of salespeople in an effort to help corporate clients form and develop their sales teams. Its findings suggest that the top four qualities of top-tier producers are: 1) solid closing skills; 2) self-motivation; 3) strong work ethic and

4) excellent people and relationship skills. How can you implement these four qualities into your sales team?

Kurt W. Mortensen is one of America's leading authorities on persuasion, motivation and influence. Kurt spent 15 years researching personal development and motivational psychology and is currently a professor on the university level. He offers his speaking, training, and consulting programs nationwide, helping thousands achieve unprecedented success in business and personal endeavors. Kurt is author of Maximum Influence a bestseller and is endorsed by Stephen R. Covey, Brian Tracy, Robert Allen, and Mark Victor Hansen. Go to http://www.prewealth.com/iq to find out where you rank in your ability to persuade or email askkurt@persuasioninsitute.com.

Managing Conflict In The Workplace

This is not what you bargained for when you started managing people, is it? I mean, you're dealing with professionals aren't you? You know, adults? So why are you being expected to get solve every single personality clash?

Well, it may not seem right, but managing conflict in the workplace comes with the territory of managing people. You are, after all, managing people.

So what do you do when staff don't get along? Well, firstly, don't assume that it's your responsibility to make sure everyone gets along. Yes, you read that correctly. You do not have to shoulder everyone else's problems!

If one of your team members has a problem with someone else, it's her problem...

Unless it's having a substantial, negative impact on your team's results.
Which may well be the case... leaving you with two choices:

You either:

1. Identify the cause of the dispute and encourage them to resolve their differences, or

2. Forget about trying to find out "why", and simply get them as far away from each other as possible!

I like the second approach for its simplicity. After all, you're a manager -- not a counselor!
So if you can restructure the work so that neither person has to deal with the other very often or at all, then you may be able to solve the problem without getting involved in the dispute.
However, this approach may not work if the conflict is more than just a work-related dispute. If it's more like a "personal vendetta" -- where the two people in question are likely to go out of their way to hinder each other -- then restructuring the work won't help.

Also, in many cases, you can't separate people! You might need them to work together, or at least to have them co-exist in a small work environment.

In this case, I suggest you identify the cause of the dispute, if only to work out whether you can fix it or not.

So... is the dispute due to:

* Some kind of misunderstanding * Professional differences * Contrasting values, attitudes or beliefs, or * A "wrong" that one of the parties has somehow inflicted on the other?
If the conflict is due to a genuine misunderstanding, you may be able to clear it up to everyone's satisfaction.

You may also have a chance at fixing the problem if it's due to professional differences.
For example, if two people simply work differently, you may be able to make small -- but significant changes -- to how the work is done to minimize the chance of conflict.
I mean, if you have someone who loves coming up with big ideas and someone who's naturally critical -- it's probably best not to invite them both to a brainstorming workshop!
Instead, let the big ideas person do the brainstorming, and then after he or she has finished, invite the critic to voice his or her concerns.

However, if there are fundamental differences in values, attitudes or beliefs -- or some kind of irrevocable "wrong" has been committed -- all your efforts may be in vain.

In that case, it's time to get tough. The fact is, if the conflict is negatively impacting on your team, then you need to get rid of one or both of the people responsible.

Just make sure you don't do this without warning them -- in fact, a warning may be what you need to force them to cooperate -- and make sure you comply with all legal, corporate policy and ethical considerations.

Anna Johnson is the author of the How To Manage People System, including her book, How To Manage People (Even If You're A Control Freak!). Get Anna's FREE 12-page report How To Be An Outstanding Manager -- The 8 Vital Keys To Managing People Effectively

E-Sourcing – Choosing the Right Tool and Category is Vital to Success

e-Sourcing is the use of internet technology used by purchasing professionals to find suppliers and negotiate prices or reduce cost for a wide range of goods and services. A variety of online negotiation tools are used – including RFI (Request for Information, RFQ (Request For Quotation), RFP (Request for Proposal) and electronic auctions.

It is important to understand when and how each should be used to achieve the best results. Incorrect use can bring about unsatisfactory experiences and can lead to “bad press” for e-Sourcing.

This article focuses on the criteria which should be applied to determine the most appropriate e-sourcing tool to use.

Strategic importance of the category

An auction is generally recommended for those products with a high value and a minimum or small risk. High spend, low complexity is the ideal scenario for this type of price negotiation. The level of spend which will attract suppliers will differ from category to category but as a rough benchmark we generally look at spend over £150,000. In nearly all other cases, requests for quotations (RFQ), requests for proposals (RFP) manual negotiations will be much more appropriate.

Is the specification clearly defined?

Clear and unambiguous requirements must be specified so that suppliers are competing on a ‘like for like’ basis and not working to different assumptions. A clear set of requirements (commercial, technical, logistical etc) will allow suppliers to work out the cost of servicing the account prior to the auction. If requirements cannot be clearly specified then the RFP is likely to be more appropriate.

Are the market conditions favourable?

An auction requires competition in the marketplace. The more potential suppliers there are available, the more likely a good auction result will be achieved. Also consider the marketplace dynamics – are there new entrants eager to win market share? How profitable is this sector to suppliers? Depending on the category these conditions may change quite frequently so holding the auction at the right time is crucial. If the category does not pass this test, other sourcing strategies will be more appropriate and will probably involve the need to work closely with suppliers to secure supply and will focus less on price but on total cost.

Cost/risk of changing supplier low?

A category may not be suitable for auction if the time taken to change supplier, the risks associated with change or the cost of changeover is high. Switching costs should be clearly understood in relation to the length and value of the contract.

It is possible to auction certain complex categories but this is generally done after a thorough tender / requirements definition process has been undertaken. This ensures that both parties understand the cost and implications of doing business. Good e-sourcing platforms will cover both the tender and auction aspects and allow suppliers who have passed the non-price evaluation be ‘rolled over’ into the final auction.

In summary, e-sourcing can bring considerable benefits to optimising purchasing costs. Certain categories will work well by simply running an auction, other categories will require a more detailed tender process and others will rely on more traditional purchasing techniques. By considering the criteria above, buyers should be able to make an informed decision.

Lisa Bryan is a director of e-sourcing solutions provider Select Sourcing Ltd. She has worked in the field of procurement for many years having ‘hands on’ experience in industry (private and public sector) and in consulting. She has been working in the emerging field of e-sourcing for the past 5 years. The team at Select Sourcing have delivered over 350 e-auctions and projects across a wide range of direct and indirect categories.