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Research proves that people work harder if the tasks they are asked to perform are interesting, motivating, challenging and enjoyable.

 

Individuals should feel they are important to the fate of the group. One way the individuals can come to feel that their work is important to the fate of the group is through the use of techniques of role clarification and negotiation. By careful exploration of the roles of each team member, the importance of their work to the success of the overall team can be seen.

 

Individual should have intrinsically interesting tasks to perform. The task should also be meaningful and inherently rewarding. This encourages the individual to work harder, be more committed and creative if the tasks they are performing are engaging and challenging.

 

Individual contribution should be indispensable, unique and evaluated against a standard The performance of an individual should be visible to other members of the team and the work should be subject to evaluation. Knowing that other members will observe the performance, the individual is more likely to maintain effort to the level, which they would achieve, normally in individual performance.

There should be clear team goals with built-in performance feedback.

Research evidence shows very consistently that where people are set clear targets to aim at, their performance is generally improved, and goals can function as a motivator of team performance if accurate performance feedback is available.

           

The Performance of the Woodcutter

A woodcutter was cutting a tree. He was working hard for the last three days. The tree was thick and he felt tired. A traveller was passing by the place where he was cutting the tree. He could see that the woodcutter was working hard but without much success.

He suggested to the woodcutter to stop cutting wood and sharpen the axe. The woodcutter got annoyed and said, “Gentleman, I'm in a hurry and don't have time to sharpen the axe. Please don't waste my time.”

The traveller smiled and moved on his way.

Don't just work hard. Work smart

.      Points to Remember