Your engineering team is facing a marathon project. How do you keep their motivation high?
Long projects can stretch your engineering team's stamina and motivation. Here are ways to keep the energy up:
What strategies have worked for you in keeping your team motivated?
Your engineering team is facing a marathon project. How do you keep their motivation high?
Long projects can stretch your engineering team's stamina and motivation. Here are ways to keep the energy up:
What strategies have worked for you in keeping your team motivated?
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- Break the Project into Manageable Sub-Projects Divide the work into clear sub-projects with distinct goals. This helps create a sense of progress and prevents the project from feeling overwhelming. - Build Visibility and Connect to Business Goals Explain the business objectives and how the project impacts real life. Show how each task contributes to the broader vision. - Maintain a Sustainable Pace Ensure workloads are balanced to avoid burnout. Adjust the pace as needed to keep the team energized and productive over the long term. - Keep the Work Fresh Rotate tasks, introduce new tools to prevent monotony and maintain engagement. - Foster Open Communication Regularly listen to feedback and act on it to maintain trust and engagement.
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Actually I agree, When it’s a long project, regular small breaks and treats such as snacks or small sign of gratitude speaks louder than words to all the team. It’s the foundation of a cohesive and supportive trusting team which will I turn, provide the results that everyone is striving for!
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Share group and individual achievements on a regular basis, thereby enabling both individual and group progress to be strong motivators
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Feed them. Provide snacks all day long. Have takeout lunches and dinners brought in. Keep to a schedule and hold daily mornings meetings on progress of everyone’s assignments. Have experienced reviewers give constructive feedback and also make sure there is cohesion between activities and the final product. Regularly review the goals with the entire team and the status of achieving these goals. And keep the end in sight!
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To keep the team motivated during a marathon project, I focus on clear communication and celebrating progress. Breaking the project into smaller milestones helps maintain a sense of achievement. Regular check-ins allow for addressing concerns, sharing feedback, and ensuring alignment. I foster a supportive environment by recognizing individual and team contributions, promoting collaboration, and encouraging work-life balance to prevent burnout. Providing opportunities for skill development and showing how their work aligns with the bigger picture reinforces purpose. Transparency about challenges and progress keeps the team engaged and committed, turning the marathon into a series of achievable sprints.
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I’d hold one-on-one sessions to understand each team member’s strengths, challenges, and career goals. Each task would be tied to a clear, measurable goal aligned with the project’s objectives, so everyone knows the value they bring. Tasks would be broken into actionable, value-driven deliverables, ensuring clarity and direct contributions to success. Regular check-ins would track progress, celebrate achievements, and address blockers early. This approach fosters trust, keeps motivation high, and helps align individual efforts with the team’s overall impact.
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Um Projeto deve ter seu objetivo claro para todos os membros da equipe, independente de seu nível. O conceito da gestão ágil, onde a tarefa é dividida em atividades realizáveis e alinhadas com o objetivo, é uma forma do colaborador (membro da equipe) observar os resultados sob sua responsabilidade, motivando seu desempenho.
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The best way would be to celebrate everything. Celebrate with food, coffee snacks etc. Move from a formal workplace to a casual one (e.g. relax the dress code).
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