MOTIVATION STEPS TO MOTIVATING THE PROBLEM PEOPLE Nicholson

MOTIVATION

STEPS TO MOTIVATING THE “PROBLEM PEOPLE” (Nicholson) 1. Create a Rich Picture • Seek first to understand/Listen • What drives the person? What are his/her needs? • How do they see the world? • What are his/her passions? What stifles them? • Self-awareness – What is your role? How do you contribute to the problem? • Analyze the context

STEPS TO MOTIVATING THE “PROBLEM PEOPLE” (Nicholson) 2. Reframe Your Goals • Stop projecting your “scripts” onto person • Open up possibilities, think win-win • Know what you need, set boundaries 3. Stage the Encounter • Use Emotional Intelligence, be aware of and regulate your emotions. Show empathy. • Go to a neutral location • Affirmative Assertion/Feedback • Leverage Questioning – Seek win-win

HAZARDS IN HANDLING “PROBLEM PEOPLE” (Nicholson) • The Mulberry Bush Chase – Same fruitless conversations over and over • The Huckster Hazard – Tell and sell, convince person of your position • The Ignorance-Is-Bliss Syndrome – Clueless about what really makes person tick • The Self-Centeredness Trap – Do you only see the situation from your point of view?

HAZARDS IN HANDLING “PROBLEM PEOPLE” (Nicholson) • The Hanging Judge Tendency – Taking the moral high ground. You sit in judgment. You are right, he or she is wrong. • The Monochrome Vision – Selective perception. Are you seeing only the negative? • The Denial Danger – Low self-awareness. Not acknowledging/ understanding how you are perceived.

THE TEAMMATE FROM HELL (A) • What motivates John? – Social Needs • In fraternity. • Talks about social life. • John is working and already has a job opportunity. He is not motivated by his class work. • Might have dropped out if not for friends. • Only discussed partying. • When saw good time people having, he tried to work way into group. • Semi-formal was highest priority.

THE TEAMMATE FROM HELL (A) • How are the team members contributing to John's motivation problem? – John has social needs. Team members do not recognize and meet them. – Team members project their scripts about motivation onto John. – Make assumption about what coming late means. This sets up a self-fulfilling prophecy.

THE TEAMMATE FROM HELL (A) • Using the "How to Motivate Your Problem People" article, assess the methods the team used to motivate John. Which, if any of the "Seven Hazards" do they fall into? – Mulberry Bush (going round and round fruitlessly) • Call John and tell him to do his part. • Beg him to attend meetings. • Confront him and ask to make more consistent contributions. • Member blew up and told him he was disrespectful. • Things work for a little while but problem returns. • He was laid back and would always say he was busy. • Came to meetings but didn't contribute.

THE TEAMMATE FROM HELL (A) • Huckster Hazard (tell and sell) – Try to motivate John by focusing on grade. • Ignorance is Bliss (don’t care what makes him tick) – There is no real attempt to get to know this person. – Judgments were made from day one. • Self-Centeredness Trap – There does not seem to be an attempt to understand the situation through John’s eyes.

THE TEAMMATE FROM HELL (A) • The Hanging Judge – “students who come to class a couple of days after it begins are the slackers” – “I found out John is a member of a fraternity and he did nothing but talk about his social life. ” – “He just did not understand the difference between social hour and work life. ” – “What are his priorities, school or partying? ”

THE TEAMMATE FROM HELL (A) • Given what you know about things like • • perception, emotional intelligence, group effectiveness, self-fulfilling prophecy, etc. explain the dynamics in John's group. Given what you know about setting your group up for success, evaluate how well the group set itself up to handle the problem with John. What suggestions would you make to the group both in setting itself up for success and in addressing John's motivation?

THE TEAMMATE FROM HELL (B) • • Mike seems to be causing somewhat of a problem for other group members. Using theories of motivation, what do you think motivates Mike? How do you think Mike perceives his behavior? Using theories of motivation, why do you think Mike's behavior might be demotivating to other team members? If you were a member of Mike's team, what would you do to effectively address the issue? Assume John from Case A and Mike from Case B are in the same group? How would you explain the group dynamics? Use the concepts, readings, and theories we have studied to this point in the course.

Write in Your Insight Journal: • If you haven’t already done so, use your journal to think about how you have tried to motivate a group member or other person in your life. – Have you fallen into any of the traps Nicholson identifies? – What might you have done differently?