CLASSMATE 1

Discussion 4
Topic: How do you motivate employees?
         As Ive mentioned before, one of the dilemmas in leadership today is the ability for the designated individual to actually lead the team. Most leaders appear to be more concerned with designating tasks, instead of building a unified work environment. There are many challenges that comes with leading a team. However, the implementation of collaboration and effective communication can alleviate a lot of issues, while motivating employees.  
         Employing a collaborative work environment can definitely aid in the increase of productivity, among the employees, within the organization. A team that works well together can succeed together and produce great results (Reeves, Xyrichis, and Zwarenstein, 2018). Employees will strive to achieve goals more, if they feel a sense of belonging within the company. The team will develop a sense of alliance as they, collectively, work towards achieving a common goal. Bolman and Deal (2017) discussed that building a positive and collaborative work environment can guide, motivate, and inspire the team to produce their best performance. Communication is, also, a vital component in managing and motivating others. I believe that the members of a team are more prone to fully engaging in their task when theyre able to effectively communicate with each other and their leader. Communicating with the group will assist the leader in being cognizant of the teams issues that might negatively impact the success of the team. For example, as a leader, I can ask the team to outline their strengths and weaknesses and then find ways to utilize the teams strengths to improve some of those weaknesses. Also, I can ask my team to divulge ways that they feel the team could improve. Again, it is the act of using communication and collaboration to better the business.
          I believe an effective leader should utilize team development and team building approaches to assist in increasing cohesion in the workplace. These methods can increase engagement amongst the team, but it must start with communication first. The team needs to have an understanding of its purpose and the roadmap to obtain set goals.
Bolman, L.G. & Deal, T.E. (2017) Reframing Organizations, (6th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. 
        ISBN: 9781119261825 
Reeves, S., Xyrichis, A., & Zwarenstein, M. (2018). Teamwork, Collaboration, Coordination, and           
       Networking: Why We Need to Distinguish Between Different Types of Inter-Professional       
       Practice. Retrieved from     
       https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13561820.2017.1400150

CLASSMATE 2

Motivation is an essential skill and capability that leaders want to ensure they possess. Part of the motivation consists of empowering individuals. Motivation can be defined as one willing to complete a task with conditions of receiving something in return or satisfying a need (Robbins, DeCenzo, & Wolter, 2019). Motivation can come in different forms. For instance, motivation can be money, food, bonuses, parties, etc. Motivating employees can increase and improve productivity as well as job satisfaction. Additionally, motivating employees can assist in establishing a positive atmosphere.
While I do not think motivating employees is a hard task to complete, I also do not think it is an easy task. Maslow believed that people are motivated by a variety of wants (Bolman & Deal, 2017). Maslow developed a hierarchy of needs, rating the needs from lowest to highest. The bottom of the pyramid consists of ones physiological needs. Next is the need for safety. The need for social belonging is next. Ones esteem is second to last in the pyramid. Lastly, the pyramid consists of achieving self-actualization. For some working for an organization is not all about receiving a paycheck. However, for some, it may be having a sense of belonging to something bigger than them.
When it comes to motivating employees, I try to consider myself in the equation. If it were me, what would motivate me? As a leader, I would have implemented incentives to motivate my employees. Some incentives I would incorporate is a free dress day, a pizza day, earning a half a day, or even earning a full day off. Developing teams in some organizations and having them achieve a goal for a reward can also motivate them to increase their productivity. I think it is important to empower individuals at the start of their shift, so I believe just sending a positive email can help jump start my employees day. Also, during meetings, I would leave the floor open to questions or concerns to be addressed. Making employees feel important matters to me and my leadership capabilities will reflect that. It is one thing to be in a leadership role, but it is another to actually lead and empower.
Bolman, L.G. and Deal, T.E. (2017) Reframing Organizations, (6th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
DeCenzo, D.A, Robbins, S.P., Wolter, R. (2019) Supervision Today, (9th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson.