Creative Ways to Motivate Employees and Teams
Keeping employees motivated and excited about their work is a constant challenge—especially in a world where burnout is real, distractions are everywhere, and teams can easily feel disconnected from one another. The good news? Motivation doesn’t always require big budgets or grand strategies. Sometimes, small, thoughtful changes can reignite energy and drive across your organization.
Give Them Ownership—Not Just Tasks
People are far more energized when they feel trusted. Give employees the opportunity to lead something, whether it’s a project, a process improvement, or even a monthly recognition moment. Ownership fuels pride, creativity, and engagement.
Tip: I know it can be hard to trust team members with new responsibilities. So start small - with things like creating the agenda for a meeting and leading that meeting, or nominating topics for upcoming blogs or social media posts.
Celebrate More (and Smaller) Wins
Don't wait for annual awards. Recognize momentum regularly: share “win of the week” shoutouts, start meetings with a quick team success story, or surprise someone with a note of appreciation. Frequent, informal recognition is powerful.
Tip: repeated "win" announcements can quickly turn into robotic "check the box" moments. I suggest having a rotating question that you ask a team or the whole company - so that responses come from a natural reflection on recent events. Consider "what was the most positive collaboration you had with a teammate in the past week?"
Ask a Team to Refresh the Space
Invite employees to collaborate on updating a shared space—even with zero budget. Reorganizing, decorating, or just putting up fresh whiteboards can reinvigorate how people feel about being there.
Tip: Combine this option with dates or moments that are meaningful to the internal teams, like the company's birthday/anniversary, a product/service milestone, or the launch of a new initiative. Also, cookies are a good idea.
Try Something Unexpected
Here’s the creative stretch: Let teams “adopt” a room or a department ritual and personalize it within broad guidelines. Give them creative license to name it, theme it, or decorate it. It builds ownership, sparks laughter, and brings departments together in ways that email never will.
Tip: Ask individual teams or the whole company to vote on an internal mascot - a character that can be added to internal posts, decorations, or t-shirts. What would your company's spirit animal be - bulldog? bumble bee? rhino?
Unite Around a Shared Purpose
One of the most powerful ways to motivate a team is to do something meaningful together - outside of regular responsibilities. Delivering a small-scale community impact initiative (like collecting supplies, volunteering, or fundraising) builds connection, reinforces values, and generates authentic team pride.
Tip: Celebrate your community impact initiative by sharing it through your company's marketing and social media channels.
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