New Year New Start – It’s one month into the new year, so do something different and keep motivation high.

Want a quick tip on how to keep motivation high in your team (or even your life)? Here it is – ready for it – it’s really simple, so bear with me - just do something different.

It can be something very simple or is can be something bigger, need some examples? Here you go then:

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  • Change your standard team meeting agenda
    • Ask someone else to chair the meting – or take the minutes
    • Add a new topic to the agenda
    • Take a topic off this time
    • Change the usual running order
    • Move it outside. Yep – sit on a park bench or go to the local cafe
  • Next time someone asks you a ‘how do I’ question’, instead of telling them the answer – ask them a good strong coaching question. Don’t know what a coaching question is? Then send me an email and I’ll help you
  • Give someone a different job to do for the day
  • Book the whole team into an all day meeting – and then on the day, buy them all a coffee and tell them there is no meeting and they can now spend all day catching up with whatever they like (you’ve just granted them an interruption free day!) think about it
  • Try a different route to work (yawn – heard that before – well give it a try) – include a coffee stop on the way, go earlier or later, catch the bus (hey, they’re not like they used to be!)
  • Book yourself on a training course (away from the office)
  • Invite a speaker/trainer to your next team meeting for a 1-hour training session (you’d be amazed at how well this works – just make sure the trainer is used to packing useful and practical tips into one hour of fun) (contact me for more details on this one)
  • Buy a new outfit… and wear it to work
  • Buy something new and unusual for you to use (pen, bag, notebook in a different design for example) and start using it at work

Why does this work? Well, it helps prevent sleepwalking – you know what I mean, you’ve seen it… when each day is the same and everything is as expected we can cruise through without really trying – and without using our brains very much and without enjoying ourselves.

Try something different. Give it a go – let me know what happens.  Happy New and Motivational Year to you all.