QUESTIONS FOR SELF-STUDY

What is intrinsic motivation?

Intrinsic motivation is most easily defined as those things that motivate a person with
the aim of being rewarded internally.
This is any activity based on personal gratification or just for the fun of it without
expecting external praise.
There are so many activities that are done daily and are dictated by intrinsic
motivation. It could be going to the gym, learning new skills, playing games or
sports, or helping someone cross the road because it gives you pleasure or a sense of
purpose.

Intrinsic motivation examples

Example 1:

Peter is a young footballer who loves what he does but isn’t good enough. Everybody
trains for two hours a day at the stadium, but Peter takes an extra one hour after the
training to do some more practice. He wants to be good at his passion, not for
applause, but himself. This is a typical example of intrinsic motivation. In the end, he
will get better because he is self-motivated to do so.

Example 2:

Sharon has struggled with health issues throughout her life. Other people have tried
to encourage her to maintain her health. However, for most of her life, that
encouragement hasn’t been enough to make a change. Over time, Sharon becomes
tired of feeling bad, and knowing she isn’t at her best. One day, she makes the
resolution to eat healthier and joins a gym. At first, it’s difficult, but she keeps trying.
As she continues her healthy routine, she begins feeling better about herself, and
notices she has more energy. Because she can tell how much better she feels when
she’s healthy, she continues her routine and even starts counseling some of her peers
to help them do the same.

Example 3:

James has always wanted to travel the world, and get to know people from other
cultures. While his friends and family don’t travel much, he’s determined to make his
dream come true. However, James also knows that to travel and be able to talk to
locals, he’ll need a better way to communicate. He decides that his goal is to take an
extended vacation to Italy and live with locals. James starts taking Italian classes after
work, and within a couple of years, he’s able to travel to Italy and communicate with
his new neighbors.

Example 4:

Brenda loves animals, and has since she was young. She sometimes volunteers at the
local animal shelter, but she isn’t quite fulfilled. Homeless animals are what really
make her sad, and she wishes she could do more to help them. Brenda starts to set up
programs to rehabilitate homeless animals and find foster homes for them. She
doesn’t make any money doing it, but she feels good knowing that she’s helping
animals in need find a good home.
1 Empowering team members
Empowering your team members with new opportunities to problem solve can
internally motivate them to do better and learn new skills.

These could include opportunities like owning a project change or onboarding a new
team member. You can empower your team to problem solve by:

Giving team members autonomy: It’s okay to give your team guidance on how to
problem solve, but it’s better to give them the autonomy to solve issues
independently rather than giving them the answer.

Motivating with team building games and quotes: Team collaboration can improve
morale and empower individuals to work together on tough problems.

These simple tasks can bring your team members together as a community and
encourage not only problem solving skills but also collaboration skills for their own
benefit.

2 Recognizing work
Recognizing your team’s work is a positive extrinsic motivational tactic that can
make a difference in your team’s morale. It makes people feel important and
motivates them to continue reaching new skill levels. Work that is worth recognizing
could be as small as accomplishing an internal communication task or as large as
implementing a new process.

It’s important to recognize work frequently regardless of the size of the project or the
perceived impact. You can celebrate your team’s work by:
Celebrating good work with the greater organization: Post in a shared collaboration
space such as Slack, announce it during all-hands meetings, or even send an
organization-wide update.

Recognizing work as often as possible: There is no hard and fast rule when it comes
to frequency, but recognizing work at least quarterly is a good start.

While recognizing work in a 1:1 setting can still be motivating, it’s a good idea to let
your team or organization as a whole know the great work that’s been done, too.

3 Providing challenges
Giving your team challenges can inspire them to achieve new skills. This is important
when looking at an individual’s long term growth professionally.

You can provide your team with challenges by:

Leading team members to solutions: Providing solutions is different from answers, as

it gives team members the autonomy to use the solutions to find the answers on their
own.

Delegating work: Providing work opportunities pushes team members to discover

new skills and take on new challenges.

Challenging your team with these solutions can encourage adaptiveness to new
situations and raise individuals’ self-esteem in the workplace.

Encourage your team with intrinsic motivation

When it comes to different types of motivation, think intrinsically and encourage
your team to do the same. With the right motivation, you can empower your team
members, increase team efficiency, and boost morale.
4 Ability to Choose
Employees have different core skills, different values and individualized approaches
to completing tasks. Giving employees the opportunity to choose assignments best
matched with their personal preferences and areas of strength is an internal motivator.
Employees feel their skills are being used in the most effective way and the ability to
select projects of personal interest increases the chances the final project will be
successful.

5 Opportunity for Advancement

Employees who feel they have a bright professional future ahead of them are more
intrinsically motivated than employees who feel they are stuck in a job that will never
change or inspire them. Employees who see a clear path to career advancement have
a vested interest in the company and are motivated to contribute to its success, and
therefore, to their own success.

6/7 Mentoring and Education

Employees who are mentored and given the opportunity to expand their knowledge
through participation in professional development seminars and training sessions feel
an increased sense of worth. This internal motivator makes employees feel they are
valued by the company, which makes them value the quality of their work.

8 Regular Feedback
Employees who know where they stand with regard to performance measurements
feel more control over the stability of their jobs and the quality of their work. Taking
time to give employees regular feedback and constructive criticism creates a system
where employees feel they are able to constantly improve their performance.

9 Participation in Decision Making

Employees who are engaged in the corporate decision-making process are
intrinsically motivated because they have a sense of camaraderie as well as a stake in
the success of the company. Employees view themselves as being valued members of
the collective team and that their intellect and input is noticed and appreciated.
10 Creating Intrinsic Value at Work
Although the motivation is internally driven, a business can set the stage to foster
intrinsic value. As a starting point, creating a workplace that is comfortable and
desirable as location where people simply want to spend time.

Add color, arrange the furniture and desks in a manner that is more open than cubicle
oriented and provide basic services like coffee, tea and even snacks. When workers
are comfortable in the space, they are empowered to sit down and focus because they
are not counting the seconds until the work day ends.

Benchmarks and goals are another method of building internal motivations in the
workforce even when they are largely arbitrary. Placing those goals in a clear, visible
location as a reminder of the mission is motivating and can act as a driving force.

11 Tracking Employee Results

On the same line of thinking, track the actual results driven by each employee and
return those metrics to show their performance. Having that data available serves to
drive them towards a better result. For example, if the goal is ten sales for the month,
shoot the employee a bi-weekly progress report to show their status. If they are close
to the goal, the motivation to finish is intrinsic.

Alternatively, if they are off the goal by a significant margin, the progress report can
still serve as a motivating factor to regain some ground and reach the goal. If the
goals are set too high however, the process can backfire and act as a discouraging
force. Set reasonable goals and benchmarks to motivate workers towards realistic
outcomes.

12 The Responsibility Paradigm

Creating a hierarchy of responsibilities is a great method of building intrinsic
motivation in the employee population. Working alone is emotionally isolating and
gaining internal momentum and drive to perform is far more difficult.
Building a team oriented environment where individuals have attached
responsibilities is intrinsically motivating. You are more likely to gain purpose and
internal drive when there are consequences effecting other people. Assigning tasks in
a group setting and creating team environments is an effective structure for
motivation. It also creates accountability in a self regulating system of sorts.

Responsibility for others in the workplace serves as an intrinsic motivator but it also
works well when extrinsic value is applied. The two motivators are not necessarily
mutually exclusive and attaching tangible rewards to goals only serves to increase the
overall motivation.

13 Competition Among Teams as a Motivator

Team environments are also competitive and that serves as an internal motivator
when groups work together but also compete with other groups or among themselves.
Friendly competition is a great tactic so long as the process remains positive and
productive.
14 Write a thank-you card
15 Give them a shout-out at all-hands meetings
16 Take your employee out of the office
To take your top-performing employees to a fun activity whenever they achieve
something or reach a milestone.

17 Invest in their future

To fulfill this need, one way to reward these workers is to offer them a free day (and free
tickets) to attend a conference or support their pursuit of getting a new certification.
18 Share how it makes you feel
1. The MacGyver Award
Is there someone in your office who’s always fixing things — printers, light fixtures,
coffee machines, what have you — even though it’s not in their job description?
Quick, give that person the MacGyver Award!
2. The Space-Time Continuum Award
Odds are someone on your team just seems to not have the best sense of time. Maybe
they show up late every day, or maybe they’re always the last person to show up for a
team meeting.
Whatever the case may be, this person deserves the Space-Time Continuum Award.
3. The Fashionista Award
No matter what dress code your company has — or even if it doesn’t have one in the
first place — there’s someone who takes their wardrobe game to the next level more
often than not.
They’ve earned the Fashionista Award!
4. The Pig Pen Award
One of the members of your team is — how should we put it — a little more
disorganized than everyone else.
Give them the Pig Pen Award, which is named after the dirtiest Peanuts character.
5. The Mr. Clean or Ms. Clean Award
On the flip side, there’s someone on your team who keeps their work space
immaculately clean — to the point where people say something about it.
Give this person the Mr. or Ms. Clean Award.
6. The Snack King or Snack Queen Award
Some people always make sure the rest of the team has something tasty to munch on.
Recognize this person’s culinary skills (or their commitment to buying treats) with the
Snack King or Snack Queen Award.
7. The Loch Ness Award
Is someone on your team seemingly harder to track down than everyone else?
Well, no one’s found the Loch Ness monster yet, either.
8. The Bermuda Triangle Award
When you need to track down a stapler, an extra pad of paper, or a pencil sharpener, you
know you can always count on that team member who always has every office supply
known to man stashed away somewhere nearby. Office supplies go to this person’s desk
to disappear.
This individual deserves the Bermuda Triangle Award.
9. The Green Thumb Award
Who has the most plants — that are still alive — in their work space? This person
obviously knows a thing or two about gardening.
Give them the Green Thumb Award!
10. The Chatty Cathy Award
Someone on your team talks more than anyone else. You all know who that person is.
Give them the Chatty Cathy Award.
11. The Opera Singer Award
Some people can’t help it. They’ve just got to sing.
If one of your colleagues holds the proverbial microphone more often than everyone
else, recognize their talents with the Opera Singer Award.
12. The Picasso Award
No, this award isn’t necessarily given to your best graphic designer. It’s given to the
person who’s the best at drawing and doodling to the point that everyone takes notice.
Give the Picasso Award to your most prolific artist.
13. The Running with the Bulls Award
Every team has a risk-taker who keeps things interesting at the workplace by taking up
special projects (and keeping managers on the edge of their chairs).
The Running with the Bulls Award is a way to give kudos to such employees.
14. Rookie of the Year Award
Is there a new employee who exceeded all expectations and set a benchmark for future
recruits with their great work?
Give that talented newbie the Rookie of the Year Award!
15. The Jock of the Bunch Award
This sports award is reserved for the jocks on your team.
Give it to a show-off who always wins at office sports or a football buff who never shuts
up.
16. The Biggest Germaphobe Award
Got someone who’s obsessed with hand-washing and always keeps hand-sanitizer at
their desk?
If COVID-19 has taught us anything, it’s that it doesn’t hurt to be extra careful!
Give the Biggest Germaphobe Award to someone who has always been like that.