How to motivate your team through neuroscience?

As managers, you occupy a central place in the organization of the company since you are the link between the top management and employees. But in recent years, new managers (including you may be one of them) have been caught between the idea of a leadership still too descending and the multiple expectations of talents, in particular on their need for more meaning at work. How to be a reliable and trustworthy manager while making your teams want to follow the same course? How to be an “inspiring” manager? Discover the valuable advice of Melinda Limoges, neuroscience coach, to sustainably motivate your teams.

Summary

1. Understand the needs of your teams

2. Motivating your team through neuroscience

Understand the needs of your teams

Leadership and emotions

To be a good leader, you need to know how to motivate your teams. But that's not the only skill required, you'll also need to demonstrate Of influence, to have a clear vision and to have skills such as listening and communication. The latter are often relegated to the rank of Soft Skills on the resume but are essential to fulfill your role. However, communicating well requires a good understanding of the emotions of others.

To do this, it is necessary to make room for emotions in business. Because of the taboo and the Cartesian opposition “rationality vs emotions”, many managers favor the rational management (or directive) to a more emotional management. It's a shame when numerous neuroscience studies show that emotions are directly linked to team performance.

For a manager, it is therefore important to give importance to emotions in order to better identify them, to deal with them in case of disagreement and to find appropriate solutions if necessary. This applies to unpleasant emotions, of course, but also to positive feelings. For example, it has been proven that the regular feedback are a good way for your employees to express their feelings on an ongoing basis. Above all, do not limit yourself to areas for improvement, also share your positive feedback as frequently as possible. Repeating the exercise regularly will increase the impact of your message and encourage team members. So, the more specific you are in your return, the more impact it will be. For example: “Congratulations on your presentation, the analysis part was particularly interesting and allowed me to better understand the challenges of the market” will have more impact than “Congratulations, good job!”.

Pygmalion effect and performance

There is another element that can influence job performance: Pygmalion effect. Depending on the manager's opinion of the members of his team, this could positively influence the result of their performances. There is also the opposite counterpart called the golem effect.

This practice can just be useful in your management. Your team is expected to reach its goals set at the beginning of the year but to get there, your role will be crucial. The more you will have trust in your team, the better their self-perception will be. Like a self-fulfilling prophecy, you will contribute to their motivation. Your eyes will act as a real boost to take action.

So be careful with the messages (even unconscious ones) that you send to your team.

Motivating your team through neuroscience

1. Adopt a manager-coach posture

Over the years, management methods have greatly diversified. Unlike the (micro) manager who leads his teams in a restricted framework, another manager has emerged: The manager coach. It uses the basic principles of leadership and relies heavily on all the qualities required in a good communicator: knowing To listen, know when Offer your help or Ask questions and respond to them in a transparent manner.

To develop this posture, you will need to demonstrate great emotional intelligence. You must be aware that as a manager, you will have a different vision from that of your employees. You will therefore have to remain vigilant about your own projections so as not to transfer them to the members of your team. Indeed, as a manager, it is important to let them know that you trust them enough that they understand for themselves what is important for them: to be reassured, valued, or encouraged for example. Allow them to be responsible for their own development.

For example, create a space for discussion and ask them questions if they are having trouble with a topic. Your listening will be favorable to them to help them become aware of their needs and find the appropriate solutions by themselves. At the same time, this open door will dispel misunderstandings and frustrations.

2. Facilitate adherence to a project

Your role as manager propels you as a federator of the company's vision. You will therefore need to stimulate the energy of your team, but above all, to convince them. When a new project arrives, there is no need to draw up a list of concrete and rational facts. You will have to give them an emotion to convince their reptilian brain.

More specifically, your message should be:

• Staff : mention the concrete benefits of such a project for your team (for example: winning the “objectives” bonus at the end of the year)
• Contrasting : focus your message on three strengths because the reptilian brain only understands simple things (for example: before integrating a tool, your task lasts 5 hours per month; after integrating it, you will only spend one hour)
• Tangible : use comparisons, analogies and metaphors to create strong images (for example: refer to a past or known experience in the history of the company)
• Memorable : mention your key points at the beginning of your presentation and repeat them at the end
• Visual : play with visuals to support your presentation and don't skimp on storytelling (for example: use photos or tell the before and after)
• Emotional : mobilize the main levers that influence or accelerate decision-making, namely fear of regret or optimistic projection (for example: regretting not saving time if you do not carry out an administrative task or, on the contrary, putting forward all possible activities with this free time)
                         
  

3. Support your teams outside their comfort zone

But how do you reassure and motivate your teams in the face of bigger changes? How can we help them overcome themselves and get out of their comfort zone? Many people enjoy it for safety, but it's nothing less than a response to their survival instincts. So you will have to go progressively in order to be located in a learning zone (where changes can be initiated) and not in a Panic zone (where change is synonymous with danger). Indeed, everyone has an individual concept and you will have to do it case by case to best support your team.

When you are just about to propose a job change or entrust new responsibilities to one of your employees, take into account the reaction times to allow them to digest the news. Any new announcement can generate strong emotion, which will limit access to reflection. So it is better to prefer two times: a short time to announce the news and a later second time to address more rational questions such as the implementation of actions in connection with this news. In this way, you will give employees the opportunity to be able to make better decisions, no longer feeling emotionally, and thereforeimprove their work experience.

Managing a team is therefore not an easy task in the face of the responsibilities of this central role in the company. However, neuroscience studies offer very concrete management advice, with an emphasis on communication and listening skills. By understanding cognitive mechanisms, you will be able to use them to your advantage to guide your team to success.

[This article was written in partnership with Melinda Limoges certified neuroscience coach, trainer and speaker. She applies neuroscience discoveries to the world of work to increase both the performance and the well-being of teams. His favorite subjects are neuro-sales, neuro-management and neuro-performance. To find out more or to register for his courses, send him a message on LinkedIn.]