Project managers motivate others, but what motivates them?

A big part of being a project manager is having the ability to motivate your workers in order to get the job done. A well motivated team will achieve much better success than a team lacking motivation. So now the question is, what motivates the project manager?

In general, there are two main types of motivation:

• Intrinsic– doing it because you want to
• Extrinsic– doing it because you have to

It is important to understand each type of motivation and understand the balance between them. There may be some times where one motivates you more than another, and there may be times where they both equally motivate you. The ability to understand both of these types of motivation will allow you to better self-motivate yourself. A good self-motivated individual wants to do the best they possibly can, no matter where or what they are doing.

A self-motivated individual:

• Works longer and harder
• Constantly learns new skills and follows training courses
• Takes ownership of problems
• Goes beyond the job description

There are five methods to help a project manager stay self motivated. They are:

1. Manage what you can

There are always factors you can not control, especially as a project manager. That does not mean that you just give up on the whole project. Just keep a clear mind on the factors you can control and do those well.

2. Test yourself constantly

There are so many ways to test yourself and its good for you. It keeps you knowledgeable and improves skills. You can test yourself on the job, through training courses, or hobbies.

3. Mindfulness

Any job can become crazy and full of stress very quickly. So it is very important to be mindful of this and take time for yourself, even if just for a few minutes. Life is too short to be stressed all the time and then try to work on top of it. So be mindful, and take time for yourself here and there.

4. Have fun

This one ties into mindfulness again. No one enjoys working constantly without having some fun here and there. Now that does not mean having fun on your own, but rather, have a team event. This will help raise moral and unity when you can have fun time to time as a group.

5. Why you chose to be a project manager

When times are hard, it can be easy to forget the positive of why you became a project manager. A good thing to do is actually write down reasons why you chose the career you did. That way, when times are rough, you can look at your list and remember all the good.

Motivation Blockers

In addition to all the tips listed to stay motivated, it is just as important to identify and avoid motivation blockers.

1. Bad habits can be big motivation blockers. As a project manager, it is important to be able to find and identify bad habits that are preventing you from succeeding. Identify those bad habits as quickly as you can and replace them with positive habits.
2. Lack of good resources can also be a motivation blocker. The difficulty with this is that there is not always a way to defend against this. The cause can be anything from lack of funds to technological limits. So the important thing here is to just be able to identify this motivation blocker when it happens and just do the best you can to deal with it.
3. The final motivation blocker that can occur is external pressure or circumstances. These can greatly affect the self-motivation of project managers and can be caused by things such as lack of support from stakeholders.

Following all these tips will allow you to become a much stronger project manager. A strong, self-motivated project manager allows for team members to stay passionate and motivated themselves. Project managers are leaders and create examples that can inspire the team. So always remember, to be an effective leader and to effectively motivate your team you need to lead by example and ensure you have good self-motivation leading you.