Motivating your worker: With all that cheer in the air, surely nothing could be easier at this time of year.

And yet so many of us just simply miss the boat.

I recently wrote about how inspiring bosses are those who find a way to become a friend with their colleagues. Call it “micro social networking” if you will.

An article in Harvard Business Review labels this as “progress”.

On days when workers have the sense they’re making headway in their jobs, or when they receive support that helps them overcome obstacles, their emotions are most positive and their drive to succeed is at its peak. On days when they feel they are spinning their wheels or encountering roadblocks to meaningful accomplishment, their moods and motivation are lowest.

Note how this is all based around “a feel good” factor. People want to put in more effort when they believe that are achieving something.

Interestingly, even when tasks are outsourced, the external team needs to be encouraged in similar ways.  In an executive brief, which I was recently handed, it was explained that:

The quality of an outsource team’s output is directly proportional to the satisfaction they have in fulfilling the demands of your business. And much of this hinges on how well you value them as workers and their work. How do you make them feel that they are an integral part of your success? How do you make them feel as if they were your employees instead of outsourced consultants and workers?

Yet again, it’s all about making the person – employee or supplier – feel much better about themselves.

An extension of this approach is getting teams to be creative, seeing beyond their comfort zone. A fascinating article by Sue Arnold in the December 2009 issue of “Ruminations” illustrates this point. She concludes by observing that “creativity is essential  for any business to survive and thrive. Everyone has latent creative talent within them, but this often remains an untilised resource”.

And we all know that we are at our most creative when we are feeling motivated.

Now there’s a message for all managers wishing to start off the new year on a dynamic note.