The #1 Way to Stay Motivated

There have been a few different articles on WorkAwesome about how to stay motivated, from musical motivation to motivational quotes, but according to this report from the Harvard Business Review’s Breakthrough Ideas of 2010, the number one way to stay motivated is to have a clear sense that progress is being made.

Sense of Progress = Feeling of Motivation

The findings were based on information received from 12,000 end-of-day diaries, and after reviewing the content, the researchers were able to measure the relative motivation of the workers.

When the workers said they were having their very best days, these were the 5 factors that influenced their level of motivation the most.

1. Making progress = 76%
2. Collaboration = 53%
3. Organizational Support = 43%
4. Interpersonal support = 25%
5. Doing important work = 19%

The funny part about this report is the management was asked to rate what they felt the most important factor for motivation was, and they determined it was recognition for good work.  A sense of progress came in as the least important factor, in their opinion.

So if you are a manager, talk to your team and find ways to remove the barriers preventing them from moving the project forward.  If you’re a worker, share this report with your manager, so they can see that what they may think is motivational is not quite as important as getting the job done.