When I was not managing a team, I didn’t have a lot of headaches because there were a lot of things that I didn’t have to think and to resolve but most of my experiences, I was managing a team and my priority was the motivation.There are a lot of way to motivate a member, giving a bonus is just one of them but not all companies are willing to do that and I worked in some that the policy is 0 money.

The motivation is important for the service, it is not about the happiness because a member can be happy but not motivated. Without motivation there are no innovation for the service because you can’t implement new strategies. A motivated member can bring new ideas and new focus about improvements, this is the reason why the motivation is important.

I worked in big companies and majority of the members are quite motivated because of the environment, the possibility to grow up professionally, the planned activities and much more things scheduled by the company to keep their employees in constant motivation. I also worked in small and medium companies in which there were no budgets for those things and the only way to get a better skill was to find another job. For any managers, including me, letting a good member, who worked many years, to go is to lose talented skills then to recruit a new one, it is a long process before to reach back a good level of service. I am not talking about bad members, usually, I am more than happy if they quit.

Self-consciousness is a way to increase then to keep a constant motivation level. It is time consuming but it brings a good value for the service so dedicated more time for this team management function is a must against the service and report management functions.

Self-consciousness is to invite each member to understand better the service into their “technical” point of view. Generally, members are just accomplishing their job that can be resumed in “resolving incidents according to SLA” so their interest and knowledge don’t extend beyond this technical point of view. As a manager, expand their vision is not a choice but a duty that needs time on the team communication.

The team communication doesn’t mean doing a meeting, in fact, this method doesn’t include any meetings. The communication is based on to be in the same battlefield area to create a proximity and trusty relationship. My method is based on 5 steps:

 

1. Battlefield

I go there and talk to only 1 member, inevitably, the colleagues beside her/him will be involved in the discussion. Usually, I start with something simple like “how are you” and/or a question about their screen. For instance, if the person is looking an incident ticket, it will be “how is going” and if she/he is looking a game webpage, it can be “you like to play”.Normally, in few minutes, the talk will be redirected in a natural way toward the service:

• If it is not the case, just follow the thread because, in such situation, the purpose is just to make them conscious that you are interested about what they like meanwhile the service is green. Motivation is also that, making them free to do what they want meanwhile all incidents are under control and that they keep an eye in case of any P1 tickets driving them indirectly into a self-consciousness about the service responsibility. I have to say that I like to mention it, something like “do whatever you want meanwhile all are under control”.
• If it is the case, be transparent as much as I can because most of the questions will be:
  
  • How good we are
  • Is it the customer or manager happy
  • What they think about us
  • Do we have a bonus for the good job
  • Etc.
  The answer will contain a certain matrix that will be:
  
  • I believe we can do better, don’t you
  • What do you think if we change
  • So you see something wrong but how you will do it
  • What is your opinion, based on your comment, if
  • Etc.
  This will involve them indirectly into the service management because more the members are involved, higher is their motivation, and much more if their idea can be implemented and in this case, I will not hesitate to tell them because it will increase their self-esteem.

 

2. Loop

It is a constant daily communication during the full life of the service so it is not something to do during some months only. I will repeat the same action another day with another member because the purpose is to involve the whole team.

 

3. Honest answer

Very important, all questions should be treated with the correct answers to not break the trust. The feedback can be provided days later so the correct sentence is important and if the information can’t be given for confidentiality, I like to say “I know the answer but I can’t share with you, sorry”.

 

4. Fluidness

The communication should flow as normally as if I am talking with my friend about the last movie. It may happen that I have to drive back the conversation to the service but first I have to make sure that I do in a natural way not as “forced” and secondly, I have to do it the minimum as possible. Letting the communication flow in a natural way is a must.

 

5. Discussion

A discussion is not an interrogation, there is a difference between “questions/answers” and “conversation” so don’t fall in this trap. If so, you are not fulfilling the “fluidness” step.

At the beginning, I will introduce the service talk but within a short period, members will do it because they will get more and more involved and eager for any improvements. By making that each member takes conscious herself/himself about the service, it allows to their mind to fusion the service into their technical point of view creating a constant self-motivation and a member motivated, it is the warranty of a good and stability service management. Arriving at this stage, the implementation of the self-consciousness motivation is a success but it is a constant work, stopping here, it will limit the potentiality or reduce to 0 all my work. For a best and quick success, just imagine that you are making a new best friend !!!