When you and your teammates embarked on this project, you were full of excitement and enthusiasm. Everyone worked to their full potential, applying their skills and creativity to achieve your objective.

But lately, that passion has cooled. Progress toward your goal has slowed. And the finish line seems further away than ever.

It’s understandable. With most projects, interest wanes over time. Work loses its novelty. And people have a hard time sustaining their commitment.

It’s understandable – but that doesn’t make it acceptable.

When team members have “lost that lovin’ feeling” for their work, how can you get it back? Today, Exact Staff shares practical tips for reigniting teammates’ passion for a project – and keeping it moving toward successful completion:

Determine Where Things are Going Wrong

Lack of clarity, urgency, ownership, teamwork and/or resources frustrates team members – fueling apathy and undermining success. Assemble your team to diagnose where, when and why progress is stalled. Consider questions like:

• How effectively are team members communicating and collaborating with one another? What can you improve?
• Where are processes slowing down? How can you remove bottlenecks?
• Is everyone clear on the project’s purpose and importance?
• Are team members’ daily activities aligned with the project’s requirements?
• Are skills or resource gaps preventing successful completion?
• Are individuals overburdened?

Change What You Can

While some circumstances may be out of your control, improve the aspects you can to reignite team members’ enthusiasm and renew their commitment:

• Fix what’s in your control. Use what you learn from the discussion questions above to get the project back on track. Clarity of purpose, adequate training, sufficient resources and team synergy all fuel passion in the workplace.
• Help teammates get more out of the project. Give team members opportunities to express themselves, learn new skills and contribute in ways that move them closer to achieving their career goals.
• Inject some novelty and fun. Shake things up a bit with a contest or unexpected “fun” breaks. Disrupting routine work in positive ways helps improve motivation and focus.
• Celebrate milestones. Keep team members’ enthusiasm high along the way by recognizing interim achievements of individuals and the entire group.

Recalibrate

Take a step back from the project to review, as a group, what you’re working toward. Remind team members of the overarching purpose for the project – and what’s at stake. Revisit the ways individual contributions impact your project’s success, to press their proverbial “reset” buttons and reignite their passion for their work.

Become a Source of Inspiration

Whether you’re a member of a team or its leader, being passionate on the job will stir everyone around you to realize their potential. In this earlier post, we explain how you can motivate your team to achieve greatness – by serving as a source of inspiration.

Team Members Dispassionate? Uninspired?

Reignite their passion, focus and productivity by freeing them to do their best work. With a full complement of national staffing and placement solutions, Exact Staff is here to support your core team’s success. Schedule a free consultation today to learn more.