The offshore dedicated team is losing motivation, How to keep the offshore software development team motivated?
Motivation is very crucial in these days of pandemic. Most of the countries are in lockdown and the economy has taken a serious dip. In these times of crisis offshore employees need motivation the most. The term offshore refers to a location outside of one's national boundaries, whether that location is land- or water-based. The term may be used to describe foreign banks, corporations, investments, and deposits. A company may legitimately move offshore for the purpose of tax avoidance or to enjoy relaxed regulations. Offshore financial institutions can also be used for illicit purposes such as money laundering and tax evasion.
Offshore can refer to a variety of foreign-based entities or accounts. To qualify as offshore, the accounts or entity must be based in any country other than the customer’s or investor’s home nation. Many countries, territories, and jurisdictions have offshore financial centres (OFCs). These include well-known centres such as Switzerland, Bermuda, or the Cayman Islands, and lesser-known centres such as Mauritius, Dublin, and Belize. The level of regulatory standards and transparency differs widely among OFCs. In the terms of business activities, offshoring is often referred to as outsourcing—the act of establishing certain business functions, such as manufacturing or call centres, in a nation other than the one in which the business most often does business. This is often to take advantage of more favourable conditions in a foreign country, such as lower wage requirements or looser regulations, and can result in significant cost savings for the business. Businesses with significant sales overseas, such as Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp., may take the opportunity to keep related profits in offshore accounts in countries with lower tax burdens. In 2018, it was estimated that more than $3 trillion in profits were held overseas, across more than 300 U.S. corporations.
One of the most debated and researched fields in the business world is motivation. Why do people do what they do and how can we motivate others to do what we need them to do in the business place? If we understand how and why people are motivated, we can encourage them to be their best and do their best at work. The more that people are motivated to be successful and achieve the goals set for them, the more their confidence in their own abilities will grow as well, which can, in turn, make them even more motivated.
When people are motivated at work, there are many positive factors that result in the workplace:
• Job satisfaction improves
• Effort increases
• Working environment improves
• Results are the focus
• Drive is created
• Everyone’s full potential can be tapped
• Everyone is certain of the role they are to fulfil
• Your team becomes more skilled as a whole
A simple definition for motivation is that it is a description of a person’s motive to action. You can have a low level of motivation to perform an action, for example, if you are taking a long time to complete a project or even to begin it. But if you have drive towards a goal, objective, or target, we talk about you having positive motivation. Those who are highly motivated to achieve things in their lives are also likely to be more fulfilled as they accomplish the things that are important to them in their lives.
For you to motivate others, you need to understand what will drive them to take appropriate action. This requires that you take the time to understand what is important to the people you want to motivate. Then you must use that knowledge to create motivating systems in the workplace. In some cases, you might not be able to motivate every person on your team the same way. You may need to get creative and think in non-traditional terms as to how to get people revved up about what they need to accomplish.
There are various theories related to motivation:
1. Herzberg’s Motivational Theory: Frederick Herzberg studied how a worker’s work environment would affect his work by causing satisfaction or dissatisfaction. His idea was that if people were satisfied at work, they would be motivated to work, and the opposite would be true if they were dissatisfied at work. He interviewed employees about their feelings at work and then published his findings in 1959 in his book called The Motivation to Work. His theory is also called the motivation-hygiene theory because he considered the factors that satisfied employees to be motivators and those factors that were dissatisfying to be hygiene factors. Hygiene factors being present does not avoid job dissatisfaction, but if you take them away you will find that they can demotivate an employee. Examples might be the loss of a regularly expected pay raise or some decrease in how you perceive your work environment (turning off the air conditioner or no longer allowing personal space heaters). Herzberg identified the top six factors leading to dissatisfaction and the top six factors leading to satisfaction in the workplace. Herzberg argued that because the list of factors for dissatisfaction and satisfaction are not exact opposites of each other, we cannot assume that simply improving a dissatisfying factor would result in satisfaction – it would simply result in the absence of dissatisfaction. The same could be said if you remove a factor of satisfaction – the result would not necessarily be dissatisfaction, but just the absence of satisfaction. Because the list of factors for dissatisfaction and satisfaction are not opposites, we cannot assume that improving a factor of dissatisfaction will lead to satisfaction; it would simply lead to the absence of dissatisfaction. There is one important distinction to notice when it comes to self-motivation and motivating others. The factors that tend to bring us the most satisfaction at work, and so we assume, the most motivation, are the ones that we have some control over– and that are most related to our own job performance. If we are focusing on our performance, we will achieve our goals and receive recognition. If we do something we enjoy, that alone can provide satisfaction. We also see that taking on more responsibility, advancing, and growth are all ways to be satisfied at work. We can volunteer for additional responsibility, look for ways to grow our skills, and discover what would be necessary in terms of our performance to take advantage of opportunities for advancement. We might not be able to control company policy or the other factors that can lead to dissatisfaction, but we can certainly control our own work performance. The factors that tend to bring us the most satisfaction at work, and so we assume, the most motivation, are the ones that we have some control over – and that are most related to our own job performance.
2. Vroom’s Expectancy Theory: Another theory of motivation was posed by Victor Vroom. It is different from the previous theory because it focuses not on the needs of a person, but on their outcomes. He saw effort as being the result of motivation, which led to performance and then the resulting outcomes of that performance. He said that in order for a person to be motivated to put forth the effort, he or she must see a link between the three factors – effort, performance, and outcome. He proposed three variables that created the link:
1. Expectancy
2. Instrumentality
3. Valence
1. Expectancy: Expectancy means that you believe that the effort you put in can affect the performance that you deliver. For example, if you work harder, you will perform better and if you work less, your performance will suffer. This factor is affected by:
1. Having the resources, you need to do the job (time, money, hardware, or software)
2. Having the skills and knowledge to do the job
3. Having the support, you need to get the job done (manager support, approval, information)
So if you are trying to motivate your team using this information, you need to make sure that when you assign duties or set goals, that the person you are giving them to actually has the skills they need to complete it. You need to make sure that they have the resources they need and that you support them in getting the job done. Otherwise, you would be setting them up for failure.
2. Instrumentality: Instrumentality refers to the belief that your performance will affect the outcome. For example, excellent performance will result in a more positive outcome than poor performance. But even more, it is the belief that you will be rewarded for the hard work. You believe there is something in it for you if you perform well. This belief can be affected by:
• Having a clear understanding of what has to be achieved in order to receive a reward –what the ‘rules’ are for you to get rewarded for your effort
• Trusting the people who will decide whether you (or others) receive a reward for a corresponding level of outcome
• Transparency in the process that results in who gets what outcome and corresponding reward
3. Valence: Valence is the importance that a person places on the reward or expected outcome. For example, if I am motivated to spend time with my family more than by money, I will not value an offer of overtime. On the other hand, if money is of utmost importance to me at the moment, I will place a much higher value on that overtime. If you are going to motivate a team of individuals, you need to know what rewards will actually be important to them. Otherwise they will fail to be as motivated as the people to whom the proposed rewards are valuable.
So in order for a person to be motivated by what they believe the outcome will be
(the reward), all of the following must be true:
1. They must believe that their increased effort will increase their performance
2. They must believe that their increased performance will increase their reward
3. They must value the reward being offered
3. McCleland’s Need-Based Model: David McCleland based his theory of motivation on the idea that each of us has three fundamental needs:
1. The need for achievement
2. The need for affiliation
3. The need for power (authority)
McCleland said that each of us has these three needs in a different balance. These needs affect how we can be motivated as well as how we try to motivate other people. McCleland was particularly interested in understanding people who have a high need to achieve because they are not as common as one might think. Here is a brief explanation of each type of need:
N-ach: Need for achievement: These people:
1) Seek achievement
2) Strive to attain goals
3) Want advancement
4) Need feedback
5) Need a sense of accomplishment
N-affil: Need for affiliation: These People:
1) Need interaction with others
2) Need friendship
3) Want and need to be liked
N-pow: Need for power: These people:
1) Are authority motivated
2) Need to influence others
3) Need to make an impact
4) Need to lead
5) Need to increase personal prestige or status
McCleland conducted a famous experiment where he asked people to throw rings over a peg, like in a fairway game. There were no instructions given as to where the people had to stand, so people threw the rings from different distances. Yet he noticed that the people who had tested as having a high level of the need to achieve chose their positions carefully – they picked positions that were neither too close nor too far. They chose a distance that was realistic but not too easy. In other words, they seemed to be challenging themselves while still making achievement of the goal a real possibility. What McCleland realized about those with a high level of need to achieve is that they set goals at a level where they feel they can influence the outcome and yet where there is still the need to stretch in order to achieve the goal. He also found that these people were more likely to look for ways that a situation could be improved. They believe they have influence and the ability to make a difference.
3. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs: In 1943, Abraham Maslow published a theory on what motivates people in his paper A Theory of Human Motivation. He posited that people have five levels of needs that they seek to meet. The more basic the need, the more motivated a person will be to fulfil it. So, using his Hierarchy of Needs, you can begin to assess how strong the motivation factor will be for a group of people or an individual.
Maslow proposed five levels of human needs. The most basic, and therefore the most motivating, are at the bottom of the model.
Level One – Physiological Needs
The bottom, or most important needs, are the physiological needs. These are just what they sound like – apart from clothing and sexual activity, the things that our bodies need to keep functioning. These are the things that we will be most motivated to pursue should we experience a lack of them. They include:
1. Air
2. Food
3. Water
4. Clothing
5. Shelter
6. Sexual Activity
On the one hand, being motivated enough to keep a job is partly due to needing to meet these needs. I know I cannot pay for shelter or food if I do not have an income. But if you are trying to motivate someone who cannot provide these basic needs for themselves and their families based on the rewards they are receiving from their work, it is going to be difficult to motivate them because they may not think they will ever receive a level of rewards that would let them meet these needs. This makes it easy to understand why someone working a minimum wage job may not be motivated to do the best job they can but may instead only do enough to keep from losing the job and worsening their situation.
Level Two – Safety Needs
Once the physical needs have been met, the individual will then focus on making sure that they are safe. These are the things people want to create a certain level of predictability and order in the world. It does not just mean physical safety, but can also mean general health and well-being, safety from financial ruin, injustice, or having to deal with the stress of the unfamiliar. Other examples related to our professional lives include:
1. Job security
2. Protection from unilateral authority
3. Financial savings
4. Insurance policies
5. Reasonable accommodations for the disabled
Hopefully, you do not have a problem with employees feeling safe in the workplace. Of course, there are jobs where safety is not a guarantee, such as in the military, law enforcement, or disaster response personnel like firemen and emergency medical personnel. In these situations, we must assume that your employees are motivated by the desire to server others, their community, or their nation more than they are motivated by their personal safety. In any position, however, you should have policies in place that prohibit harassment of any kind and bullying, and policies that allow employees to report a problem or grievance without fearing that they will lose their job. This is often called a “whistle-blower” policy. You can also encourage employee loyalty by offering things that help a person feel generally safe such as:
1. Health, dental, and vision insurance
2. Short- and long-term disability
3. Sick leave
4. Personal leave
5. A wellness programs
Level Three – Belonging Needs
The third level of human needs revolve around social interactions and the need to belong. These needs will be pursued once the lower needs are met. People will fulfil this need by pursuing individual relationships and by joining larger social organizations. These relationships are emotionally based and fulfil the need to be loved by, cared, for, and accepted by others. If these needs are not met, individuals become more at risk for depression, social awkwardness or anxiety, or loneliness. In some cases of extreme peer pressure, individuals may sacrifice the lower levels of needs in order to fit in.
People may fulfil this level of need through different relationships, such as:
1) Family
2) Friends
3) Intimate Relationships
4) Clubs or Social Organizations
5) Sports Teams
6) Office Culture
7) Religious Groups
8) Professional Organizations
If you could create time for relationship-building activities in the workplace, you can help people to meet this level of need at work. If you do not make time for it, you will find that people take time for it anyway. It is natural to want to feel bonded in some way to the people that you work with every day. Many of us will spend more time with co-workers in a week than we do with our own family or friends.
Level Four – Ego-Status: The ego-status needs are related to the belonging needs, but with one major difference. Whereas belonging needs refer to being a part of a group, ego-status needs refer more to how the individual believes she is seen by those groups. We each have a self-image which is at east in part developed by how we believe we appear to others. For example, we believe we are smart, funny, kind, considerate, or any number of different attributes.
Our needs at this level revolve around us reinforcing our self-image and, by turn, the image others have of us.
People will strive to fill this need by such means as:
1. Status and achievement at work
2. The accumulation of wealth
3. The accumulation of ‘status symbols’ (cars, homes, etc.)
4. Recognition from others
5. Taking opportunities to lead others
6. Associations with people who have the esteem of others
7. Personal achievement in areas such as education, skills, and hobbies
8. Pride in the achievements of their family members
Level Five – Self-Actualization:
Maslow described this level of human need as the desire to become more and more oneself, and to become more and more of what we are capable of becoming. This level of need is related to meeting one’s full potential – whatever that might be. The exact need is very individual. For example, one person might have the need to be the perfect parent. Another individual might have the need to become athletically gifted, or another to become artistically expressive.
It’s important to realize that this level of need is only achievable when the other four have been met. One must be physically nourished, not have to focus on safety, feel
loved and a sense of belonging and have a good level of self-esteem before he or she would seek this level of desire.
Maslow related two ways of understanding self-actualization that were taught to him by his professor, Dr. Wayne Dyer. They are:
1. To cease caring about the good opinion of others
2. To do things purely because you enjoy them – because they are the reason you are here on earth, not because of money, fame, or any other reason.
The more we are self-actualized, the more we will find that we are motivated by the things in life that make us happy rather than those that we do simply because it is our job or our role. Also, an increase in self-actualization naturally leads to more self-confidence because you feel more secure of yourself in general. If you no longer care about what other people think (generally) and you are doing things that you love, you are affirming your individuality and accepting yourself – faults and all.
Performance management involves many roles. You must be a communicator, a leader, a role model, and a collaborator. Each individual member of the team should understand exactly what their responsibilities and expectations are, and as their supervisor, you should work to help them reach those goals. There are multiple benefits in performance management, many of which are related to motivation:
1) When roles and responsibilities are clear, motivation is increased. If your team members know what they are supposed to be doing, there is no loss of motion due to confusion or uncertainty. Instead, a motivated individual will be in action, and a team full of motivated individuals will feed off of each other and help keep that motivation going.
2) When expectations are clear, employees are more likely to take ownership of their work and to be committed to the expected outcomes. They will be more likely to be willing to take risks, to put in extra effort, and to view their own role as that of a partnership with you and with the rest of the team.
3) When goals are clear and being pursued, your team members each will be able to contribute to team effectiveness. Without performance management, a team can’t be expected to be effective. Without it, they can be expected to flounder.
4) Performance management also helps you to develop your team members. You can use it to stretch their capabilities, to challenge them to step outside of their comfort zone. Doing so will provide opportunities for individual growth, which in turn will help to fuel their enthusiasm for their job.
5) Helping them to grow and develop will help you to progress the individuals through the company. You can be building on strengths that the company needs – both in your division and in other areas.
6) A solid, well-formed performance management process gives you a powerful tool for addressing poor performance issues, should they arise. If you and your employee have agreed upon what their duties and responsibilities are, then you have something to refer to when they are not holding up their end of the agreement.
Goal setting is a powerful tool that can be used to motivate and challenge employees or yourself. Knowing that you have achieved a goal gives you a sense of accomplishment and gives you a way to keep track of what you have completed in the workplace. As your employees achieve each goal that you set and see the reward for doing so, they will become more motivated to reach the next goal that you set for them. Goal setting can be used in every type of workplace and with every level of employee. However, there is a right way and a wrong way to set goals. Well set goals are clear and you can objectively determine whether the goal has been reached. Poorly set goals are not clear and you cannot necessarily tell what it will look like once the goal has been achieved. The result is frustration and lack of effectiveness.
Locke and Latham’s Goal Setting Theory:
Dr. Edwin Locke published his theory on goal setting in 1968 in an article called “Toward a Theory of Task Motivation and Incentives.” His theory was that employees were motivated by having a goal to work towards and that reaching that goal improved work performance overall. He showed that people work better when their goals are specific and challenging rather than vague and easy. For example, telling someone to ‘improve customer service’ is not specific. You might know what it means, but will the employee interpret it the same way? Instead, the goal should be clear, such as ‘reduce customer complaints by 50% over a five month period.’
In 1990, Locke and Dr. Gary Latham published “A Theory of Goal Setting and Task Performance” in which they identified five principles that were important in setting goals that will motivate others. These principles are:
1. Clarity
2. Challenge
3. Commitment
4. Feedback
5. Task complexity
We will now look at each of these principles individually.
1. Clarity: A clear goal is one that can be measured and leaves no room for misunderstanding. Goals should be very explicit regarding what behaviour is desired and will be rewarded. Continue to ask yourself the question, ‘What will it look like if the goal is completed?’ The answer to the question will help you identify clear goals.
2. Challenge: What would give you a greater sense of accomplishment: achieving an easy goal or achieving one that was a real challenge? We are motivated by the reward that we believe we will receive for completing tasks. So, if we know that a goal is a challenge and is also perceived as such by those that assigned it to us, we are more likely to be motivated to achieve it. We are motivated by the reward we believe we will receive for completing tasks. Of course, there is a balance to be struck with this principle. A goal should be challenging but must still be achievable. If I don’t believe that I can meet a goal that you’ve given to me, I might not even be motivated to make an attempt. I will dread the goal rather than be motivated by it. You should also be sure that you have identified rewards that are appropriate for the achievement of challenging goals versus normal expectations.
3. Commitment: For goals to be effective and motivating, they need to be agreed upon. The goal should be in line with the general, established expectations that you have had for the employee in the past. The employee and employer must both be committed to using the resources needed to complete the goal and should also agree on what the reward will be. This takes more time and energy on both parts, but it prevents an end result where the employee didn’t have what he or she needed to have in order to be successful, or where the employer is frustrated by the employee’s distaste for pursuing the goal. This does not mean that you must get an employee’s absolute agreement to every goal that you set for them before setting it. But it does help to gain general agreement if the employee is involved in setting the goals. Allow them to participate in the conversation about what is needed in order to complete the goal, how much time it will take, and any other ways that you can let them participate in decision making about their work assignments.
4. Feedback: Goal setting for motivation is not going to be effective if there is not an opportunity for feedback. What if the person is halfway to completing the goal but they have a question? What if you suspect that the person is going about the process of completing the goal in the wrong way? Feedback is a chance to correct or clarify before the goal has been reached. Feedback gives you the chance to clarify expectations, adjust level of difficulty, or make other necessary changes to keep the employee motivated.
Ideally, feedback is a type of progress reporting. It gives the supervisor the chance to clarify expectations and to adjust the level of difficulty of the goal if it seems it’s too hard or too easy, or to make any other necessary changes to keep the employee motivated. For the employee, it offers a chance to make sure they are meeting their supervisor’s expectations and to get recognition for what they have achieved up to this point, which can also help to recharge their motivation.
5. Task Complexity: The final principle in Locke and Latham’s goal setting theory is related to the level of complexity of the assigned task. When a role is complex or highly technical, the person in that role is often already highly motivated or else they would not have reached that level in their organization. However, even the most motivated person can become discouraged if the complexity of the task and the time it would take to complete it was not fully understood. Projects can have the tendency to reveal themselves as being more complex after they have begun, so both the employee and supervisor need to be in communication about how involved a task has become. Even the most motivated person can become discouraged if the complexity of the task wasn’t fully understood. In complex or technical work environments, it’s important to make sure that the person has enough time to reach the goal. Unreasonable time expectations will drive a person to overwhelm themselves with work and become less effective as the stress level increases. You may also have to take into account the time necessary to allow for a learning curve or to ramp up their existing skills.
Motivation can also be achieved through delegation. Delegation. It’s a word that brings up different pictures for different people. But in terms of motivation skills, delegation is one of the most important things that you can learn to do well. There are two main reasons for this. First, you are only one person. You are certain to need assistance in completing the tasks that your team has been assigned – otherwise, why even bother having a team at all? So when you learn to delegate, you are actually learning a powerful time-management skill. You can use it to focus on what is important for your team rather than wasting time on items that you could pass on to another of your team members. You will be a better leader if you are able to focus on what is best for the team, and delegating is the way to make this possible. Second, delegating is actually a powerful tool in helping to develop and motivate others. When you delegate, you are offering an opportunity to the person you entrust with the job. They can learn a new skill, further develop existing skills, be responsible for bringing back new information to the team, get practice in leading others in completing the task that you assign, or get exposure to other areas of the organization that will make them better informed for performing their roles in the future. Of course, delegating is a skill. You cannot just hand off a job to an employee and expect them to automatically be ready to go and succeed. You will need to examine your workload, the skills of your team members, the potential for development, and the level of risk you are able to take when you are planning to delegate.
There are a number of reasons that people decide not to delegate a task or project. One common reason is that you might think it is easier to do it yourself. That’s because it takes some work up-front in order for you to be able to delegate. Sure, in the short-term, it might have been faster for you to do it yourself. But once you have established a delegating relationship with your employee, it will take less time as you continue to do it.
Another reason people don’t like to delegate is because they are afraid of losing control over the project that they are ultimately responsible for completing successfully. You have to ask yourself where your skills are best put to use. As the leader, focusing on individual projects is usually not the best use of your time. You can delegate the individual tasks, keeping your mind on the overall strategy and direction of the ‘big picture.’
Before you know for certain whether a project is something that you can delegate, you’ll want to explore several questions about the type of task or project, the frequency of it, and the risk that delegation might entail.
1. Does anyone else on the team have the information that is needed (or can be given the information needed) to complete the task?
2. Is the task likely to be needed again in the future?
3. Could the task help to develop the skills of one of your team members?
4. Do you have one or more team members who are likely to be motivated by this project?
5. Do you have the time that it will take in order to delegate effectively? You’ll need to have time to transfer knowledge, answer questions, check progress and possibly, for corrections.
6. Is this a task that I can afford to delegate? Am I comfortable with the risk that I am taking in delegating?
To look at this from another point of view, there are also reasons that delegating might not work. Reasons that you might choose to do it yourself include:
1. There isn’t enough time to redo the job if it’s not done right the first time
2. The consequences for not completing the job on time are severe enough that it’s not worth the risk
3. The results have to be of the highest quality the first time around
4. A failure at this project would do critical damage to the project
5. No one is motivated to do this kind of work – they are more motivated doing what they are doing now.
In general, the more mission-critical a job is, the less likely it is one that you should delegate. But if you have a tendency to view every single job as mission-critical, you need to re-examine your ideas.
To whom should you delegate? That depends entirely on the staff that you have, their skills, their interests, what they are motivated by, and the skills required for the task that you plan to delegate. You want to do the best you can to match the task to the right person. If you’re considering more than one person for a task, addressing some of the following factors may help you to make the final decision.
1. The individual’s level of experience, knowledge, skills, or ability to acquire new ones
1. What abilities does he or she posess?
2. Is there time to get the person additional needed skills?
2. How does the individual like to work?
1. Is he or she independent enough?
2. Does he or she have enough confidence?
3. Does this task align with his or her interests?
4. Will the new skills acquired align with his or her future work goals?
3. How will I shift his or her existing workload?
1. Does he or she have time for more work?
2. Does he or she have time for more work?
3. How will this affect the other team members?
4. Will it have any impact on meeting existing deadlines?
Now that you have identified what tasks to delegate and to whom to delegate them, you need to still do the actual delegation. You need to be certain that you have shared all necessary information, given them the needed authority, and set boundaries as to where that authority ends. Other items should be covered so that you give your staff person the best possible chance of completing the task successfully. The following suggestions will help you to delegate well.
1. Identify clearly for the person what the outcome and results of the task should be. You should be able to describe what a successful result will look like in specific detail. For example, you should not give them the expectation of a report. Instead, be as specific as you can. A 10–12-page report, single spaced, answering questions A, B, & C, which includes the same sort of graphics as were used in the similar report dated January of last year.
2. Now give them the boundaries. How much authority do they have? To whom are they accountable during this process? Be sure to identify for them:
1. What types of decisions they can make on their own?
2. What types of decisions they must come to you for?
3. What information can be shared and what should be kept private?
4. Any budget authority or constraints, if applicable?
5. Any milestones at which they should check in with you before moving on?
6. Any time expectations for those milestones and for the final project?
7. Whom they can go to for support, information, or assistance?
8. Who else on the team will be assisting them?
3. Make sure you are giving them the appropriate responsibility level for the authority level that you have given them. In other words, you cannot hold them accountable for something that you have not given them the authority to do. Remember that ultimate accountability rests with you. Expecting something from them that you have not given them the authority to achieve will kill their motivation quickly.
4. Look for the person who is closest to the work that you want done, even if it means delegating to a lower level of the organization than you would have first considered. For example, if you want to write a ‘frequently asked questions’ document on your product, who better to delegate the task to than the customer service representative who has had the best sales record, customer service satisfaction scores, or other obvious demonstration of expertise in the subject matter? They may also have the most interest and therefore the most motivation.
5. Establish a means and schedule of communicating that ensures that you are available for questions and troubleshooting. Make sure you treat that set aside time as if it is a scheduled appointment you must keep. This lets you monitor progress and identify any corrections that are needed before the person is way off target. Make sure you do this in a timely manner – you do not want someone having put in hours and hours of work only to find out they are on the wrong track. Otherwise you will face the situation of having someone who was motivated now feel discouraged.
6. Monitor against agreed upon timelines, deadlines, and milestones. This has you focus on results rather than the way those results are achieved. In other words, let them do the work their way as long as they are producing satisfactory results in a timely manner. It can be very motivating for someone to have control over how they spend their day – as long as they are getting the job done, you shouldn’t worry too much about exactly in what order they are getting it done.
7. Focus on fostering continued motivation. Let the person know what additional opportunities might become available if they complete the task successfully. Will there be financial rewards? Public recognition? Shared credit? Remember the theories of motivation we examined earlier. You need to be sure you are committed to whatever you promise and that you have considered what will be most motivating to the person you have selected.
8. Expect the person to propose solutions to any problems that they bring to you. This prevents them from passing the project back to you and keeps them involved and responsible. Let them know this is an expectation when you first discuss the problem with them so that they are motivated to problem solve before they come to you.
9. Be certain to inform other team members of the authority that you have given to the person you are delegating to, and to share this information with any relevant stakeholders in other divisions or departments of the company or to anyone else affected by the decision to delegate. Remember to do so in a way that will not de-motivate your other employees.
Thus, from the above I would say that there are three ways to motivate your employees offshore:
1. Motivation through Performance Management
2. Motivation through Goal Setting
3. Motivation through Delegation
Besides if you do have any questions give me a call: https://clarity.fm/joy-brotonath
