Occasionally, you may see an employee's energy level and motivation on a particular project is keeping them from performing well or dragging them down. If this case, your employees might need some personal attention to help them stay motivated and focused. Try the following to keep them on track:

• Increase accountability by having them send a short progress report email at the end of each day detailing what they accomplished. Keep track of these for a week and type up your own summary evaluation of their behavior.
• For a short-term reward, send a short congratulatory email when they had a particularly efficient day.
• For a more long-term reward, offer to take them to lunch when they have a certain number of productive weeks.

Here are seven additional tips to help improve energy and motivation.

In order to maintain better concentration and energy, take several short breaks (5-10 minutes) throughout the day instead of a single long one. While taking your breaks, do something physical such as some simple stretches and breathing exercises, or better yet, go for a short walk.

Stress can be a big drain on our energy. Invest some time in stress management.  For example:
• Make a commitment with friends to regularly play a sport or exercise together 
• Take a yoga or tai chi class
• Make time to regularly practice relaxation exercises

If you feel your interest waning on your current project, take a 10-minute break to do something totally different. Go for a walk, read a book, catch up on the latest news on the Internet, or flip through a magazine. When you come back to your work, you should find it easier to concentrate and focus on the task at hand.

To keep yourself motivated, focused and productive, reward yourself for small milestones. For example, allow yourself a coffee break after you finish the first draft of a presentation or order a book or two online for leisure reading.

Save the more pleasant tasks for later, to be completed only after the most annoying or demanding task is done first.

Look to others for help in motivation. A simple chat with a colleague who has experienced a similar situation may help you feel that you are not alone. See if they did anything to make the task easier.

If focusing is your problem and you find yourself frequently letting your mind wander throughout the day, schedule a reminder on your computer. Enter your tasks and assign an alarm every hour. This will help refocus your attention if you get distracted.

Keep your employees motivated by providing the developmental feedback they want and need. 

The ThinkWise 360˚ Survey gives your employees a clear picture of their strengths and opportunities for improvement and links them directly to learning resources. Your employees will be more engaged in their own development and you'll create an alignment between the organizational strategy and vision and your people.   

Click the button below to download a 360˚ survey sample report to see how easy developing your employees can be.