Motivation
(Ken Shah & Prof. Param J. Shah)

Nearly all the conscious behavior of human being is motivated. The internal needs and drives lead to tensions, which in turn result into actions. The need for food results into hunger and hence a person is motivated to eat.

A manager requires to create and maintain an environment in which individuals work together in groups towards the accomplishment of common objectives. A manager cannot do a job without knowing what motivates people. The building of motivating factors into organizational roles, the staffing of these roles and the entire process of leading people must be built on a knowledge of motivation. It is necessary to remember that level of motivation varies both between individuals and within individuals at different times. Today in the increasingly competitive environment maintaining a highly motivated workforce is the most challenging task. The art of motivation starts by learning how to influence the behavior of the individual. This understanding helps to achieve both, the individual as well as organizational objectives.

Motivation is a powerful tool in the hands of leaders. It can persuade convince and propel. People to act.

WHAT IS MOTIVATION ?

It is a general tendency to believe that motivation is a personal trait. Some people have it and the others don’t. In practice, some are labeled to be lazy because they do not display an outward sign of motivation. However, individuals differ in their basic motivational drives. It also depends upon their areas of interest. The concept of motivation is situational and its level varies between different individuals and at different times. If you understand what motivates people, you have at your command the most powerful tool for dealing with them.

DEFINING MOTIVATION

Motivation is to inspire people to work, individually or in groups in the ways such as to produce best results. It is the will to act. It is the willingness to exert high levels of effort towards organizational goals, conditioned by the efforts and ability to satisfy some individual need.

Motivation is getting somebody to do something because they want to do it. It was once assumed that motivation had to be injected from outside, but it is now understood that everyone is motivated by several differing forces.

Motivation is a general term applied to the entire class of drives, desires, needs, wishes and similar forces. To say that managers motivate their subordinates is to say that they do those things which they hope will satisfy these drives and desires and induce the subordinates to act in a desired manner.

To motivate others is the most important of management tasks. It comprises the abilities to communicate, to set an example, to challenge, to encourage, to obtain feedback, to involve, to delegate, to develop and train, to inform, to brief and to provide a just reward.

PROCESS OF MOTIVATION

In the initiation a person starts feeling lacknesses. There is an arousal of need so urgent, that the bearer has to venture in search to satisfy it. This leads to creation of tension, which urges the person to forget everything else and cater to the aroused need first. This tension also creates drives and attitudes regarding the type of satisfaction that is desired. This leads a person to venture into the search of information. This ultimately leads to evaluation of alternatives where the best alternative is chosen. After choosing the alternative, an action is taken. Because of the performance of the activity satisfaction is achieved which than relieves the tension in the individual.

Motivation (Part - 1)

TYPES OF MOTIVATION (Part - 2)
Theories of Motivation (Part - 3)
BEING A MOTIVATING MANAGER (Part - 4)

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