Nancy Stevenson - 10 minute guide Motivating people

Recently I trained a new puppy. All the books I read claimed that, in reality, it's the owner who gets trained not the dog. That's also somewhat true about motivating. This book doesn't tell you what the people who work for you should do; it tells you how, by changing the approach you take, you can inspire your people to respond with more positive and productive behavior in the workplace.

Motivating people involves an interesting mixture of common sense and a deeper understanding of what makes people tick. It's an orchestration of awarding financial compensation, paying compliments, and challenging people to excel. And it's an art that, when performed well, is the hallmark of a good manager.

The difficult and delightful reality is that, as a manager, you work with different types of people. No one magic key opens all their motivational doors. But if you can learn to spot some of the tendencies of different personality types and then pay attention to those signs in dealing with people, alone or in a group, you'll become a better motivator.

In this book, you'll find lots of tips that will help you keep your employees' interest in their jobs alive and well. My guess is that you'll read it through once or twice, find several good ideas to inspire you, then put it on your bookshelf and pull it out now and then to remind you of some specific techniques you can use to address difficult employees or challenging morale situations. After all, an ongoing commitment to being a motivating manager is the real key to motivating people.

This book makes use of three icons that help you to find the information you need:

Tip

Timesaver Tip icons give you a different perspective on what has been said to get you thinking.

Plain English

Plain English icons provide definitions of terms that might be new to you.

Caution

Panic Button icons warn you of potentially tricky or dangerous pitfalls.

Nancy Stevenson has, like a cat, lived several lives to date. She has worked in business settings in the video production, software, and publishing industries. In roles that range from training manager to associate publisher, she has managed a variety of people and projects. In addition, she has been a university instructor of technical writing and a corporate trainer in project management. Currently, Nancy is a full-time author and a consultant to the publishing industry. She is the author of two books on project management, as well as more than a dozen books on computer topics.

I'd like to thank the great team I worked with at Macmillan USA, including my motivating Acquisitions Editor, Amy Zavatto; my meticulous Development Editor, Suzanne LeVert; and eagle-eyed Copy Editor, Krista Hansing; and Production Editor, JoAnna Kremer. In addition, I give my thanks to the many people who made this book happen, starting with Publisher Marie Butler-Knight and continuing through the ranks of editors, production, and manufacturing and sales. Finally, my thanks to my dear friend and fellow author Laurie Rozakis for hooking me up with Macmillan for this project.

All terms mentioned in this book that are known to be or are suspected of being trademarks or service marks have been appropriately capitalized. Macmillan USA, Inc., cannot attest to the accuracy of this information. Use of a term in this book should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark or service mark.