June 8, 2020 6 Ways to Successfully Motivate Your Construction Team

Ensuring that your construction team is motivated can enhance productivity, which can ultimately have a positive effect on project success.

Project managers in the construction industry know the importance of delivering successful projects and meeting deadlines. However, few understand the role employee morale plays in project performance.

Many studies show that there is a direct relationship between motivation and productivity. Therefore, in addition to possessing sound technical skills, construction managers should have a firm grasp on how to keep their teams motivated.

In this article, we will examine ways in which you can inspire and motivate your construction team to help bring out their best qualities.

1. Offer Praise and Recognition

Gone are the days when workers were motivated to work out of fear of scrutiny from their superiors. Research shows that employees that are driven by fear do not produce the best results. Your team is much more likely to give their best performance when you reward them for their efforts.

When you praise one person in front of the team, it encourages them to work harder and perform better. Additionally, other members of your team are likely to put their best foot forward to receive recognition for their work.

2. Provide Clear Expectations and Goals

Lack of expectations can leave your team feeling lost and demotivated. To get optimal performance from your construction team, you need to let them know exactly what they need to do, when it needs to be done, and the results they need to achieve.

Therefore, be sure to set clear goals for completing tasks, so your team knows what is expected of them. Also, ensure that everyone on the team agrees with the set deadlines and that they can identify with them on a personal level.

Once everyone is on board with the deadlines and understands their role, they can be motivated to work harder to achieve their objectives, boosting productivity in return.

3. Engage in Active Communication With Your Construction Team

As a construction or project manager, you should make yourself available for questions, opinions, and ideas. Actively engaging and communicating with workers plays a crucial role in motivating your construction team, as it shows that you appreciate and value their feedback. Making yourself easily accessible also prevents team members from feeling isolated from management.

While there are different technologies that can assist with remote communication, there is no substitute for face to face communication. By meeting in person, you can better inspire your team through tone of voice, emotion, and body language.

Communicate regularly with your construction team and be sure to actively listen to their feedback.

4. Challenge Your Team to Help Them Improve

Workers who are underutilized or performing work below their skill level can quickly become demotivated. For many employees, overcoming the challenge of new or difficult assignments is much more satisfying than performing mundane tasks.

Show your construction team that you value their growth by empowering them with more advanced responsibilities. Persons who are presented with challenging tasks are motivated to work harder and, ultimately, improve. This strategy is a win-win since the construction project benefits from a higher level of productivity, while the worker experiences professional growth.

5. Maintain a Comfortable Working Environment and Culture

Stress can have a profound impact on motivation and work performance. In an industry that can be demanding, fast-paced, and tiring at times, managers in the construction industry must take measures to ensure that their team is not exposed to undue stress.

The most effective way to manage stress among your team members is to create a comfortable work environment. This means not only physical spaces, but also policies, procedures, and work cultures that can help staff feel at ease.

For example, allowing workers to take time off to deal with personal matters or emergencies shows that you empathize with them and prioritize their well-being. Construction project managers can use a variety of resource and scheduling tools to easily manage workplace resources and organize shifts in such situations to ensure that project progress and construction costs are not adversely affected.

6. Lead by Example

Being a good leader and motivator means leading by example. Employees will not be motivated to work if upper management does not display the same level of enthusiasm. For example, a project manager who asks everyone to work late, but then leaves early to go golfing will surely be noticed by the team. This, in turn, can stir up feelings of resentment and decrease team morale.

Abandon the “Do as I say, not as I do” philosophy, and inspire your team by displaying the behaviors you would like to see in your organization. Working hard, showing personal and professional integrity, and having a can-do attitude are just some of the behaviors that can have a positive effect on your team.

Final Thoughts

Taking steps to motivate your construction team is perhaps one of the best investments you can make. Ensuring that workers are happy can lead to enhanced productivity and improved company loyalty. This, in turn, will have a positive impact on project schedule, budget, and overall project success.

Derek Jones

Derek Jones
Derek spearheads key initiatives at Deputy, a global workforce management platform for employee scheduling, timesheets and communication.  With a focus on Construction, Derek helps business owners and workforce leaders simplify employment law compliance, keep labor cost in line and build award-winning workplaces. Derek has over 16 years’ experience in delivering data-driven sales and marketing strategies to SaaS companies like MarketSource and Griswold Home Care.

Subscribe to Industry Today