Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow proposed that a person is motivated by an increasing order of needs. When these have been satisfied, they will no longer satisfy the motivational needs of the person. The 5 levels of needs (including some examples) are:

  McClelland’s Three Needs Theory

David McClelland explored his three needs theory human motivation in his book ‘The achieving society’ (1961) which built on the earlier work of Maslow. He explained that human needs for Achievement, Power and Affiliation influence the behaviour and motivation of an individual, with one need often being the main motivational driver, but individuals can have high requirements in each of these needs. • Achievement is recognition of an activity, with the motivational gain often being based on the workers ‘journey’ taken to satisfy the achievement. More challenging targets, especially where an ind

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  McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y

Douglas McGregor’s book ‘The Human Side of Enterprise’ (1960), explained two different theories of worker motivation which might be applied by a manager depending on how they perceived typical workers. Theory X required a more authoritarian style of management, because a manager thought workers were disinterested and required constant supervision and direction; whilst Theory Y adopted a more engaging style of management where a manager thought workers were interested and wanted to do a good job. Theory X assumes workers have little desire for work, are low skilled, want to do as little as

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  Meeting, The Importance of Communicating Decisions from a

Assuming a meeting is not a secretive one where no information is to be passed onto anyone outside of the meeting, it is important that the discussions and the decisions made during the meeting, which are captured by the minutes of a meeting, are communicated to other people for several reasons, including: • To avoid confusion and misunderstandings from what was decided, so clarity of message is required. • To ensure an environment of openness and transparency is maintained within an organisation. • To ensure stakeholders are kept informed of developments. • Helping to ensure everyone is a

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  Meetings: Formal Procedures for

Well organised meetings will often consist of several formal procedures: 1. Preparation. This will include ensuring the date, time, venue is planned. Making sure the meeting has a clear aim and the agenda items are identified, prioritised and times allocated for each, and are relevant for discussion. Sending out invites, appointing / confirming the chairperson, and providing previous minutes, notes and supporting documents. Food and drink requirements. Health and safety requirements. 2. Managing. Ensure all agenda items are covered; noting apologies for those who cannot be present, taking m

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  Mentoring

The development of an individual, usually an employee, by an experienced manager or advisor. The mentor (e.g. manager, but not necessarily their line manager) provides advice, guidance and support, which can be confidential, to help the individual (the mentee) develop their work performance and career prospects. Mentoring might involve aspects of coaching, counselling, introducing the mentee to others via meetings, discussion, critical analysis and constructive feedback. A strong bond of friendship can often develop between a mentor and mentee, and the mentor will often gain significant satisf

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  Mind Mapping

An idea generation and problem-solving technique where you start with a blank piece of paper, or board, and draw an image in the centre, or write a word, which is the focus of the issue. Use lines to branch off from the central focus to develop associated themes, sub-themes or options. The more thoughts that are jotted down or sketched out, the better the opportunity to investigate and develop key aspects which you think might offer a solution. This is a good visual way of getting thoughts into a structured or semi-structured format.

  Motivating Factors

There are numerous and significant factors which motivate people, ten of which include: Challenge: This might involve challenging yourself to improve in some aspect of your work. For example, you may have top-dressed a small area of lawn pretty evenly but noticed there were some thin and also clumpy areas of top-dressing. The challenge could be to improve on this next time by trying to spread it more evenly: This would then help with working in the top-dressing as well. If someone else was carrying out the working in of the material after you had top-dressed it then they would be more satisf

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  Motivating Factors and their Impact on Teamwork

Motivating factors can have a significant effect on the work of a team, especially by influencing the behaviour and commitment of a team, their performance and productivity, as well as the image they project and reputation they reinforce to people outside of the organisation. Numerous impacts can arise from motivating factors, including: • Increasing productivity can be an outcome of a well-motivated team that is working within a positive work culture. There is a commitment to put in a good work effort, often in a friendly competitive way amongst team workers, and to increase the efficiency o

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  Motivation

Maintaining a positive outlook in the workplace is a much sought-after quality from an employer and being a motivated individual is all part of a positive attitude which underpins what are termed employability skills. Putting yourself across in a positive way, whether through written or spoken communication, or by the way you present yourself, will put you in a strong position when it comes to completing a job application form and especially if you make it through to the interview stage.