In any business, strategy is important for organisation and productivity in order for you to achieve innovative results. The question is: how do we get there? You need to have a clear pathway with how to achieve your goals so that you can be realistic and consequently reach your aims. A key way to being as productive as you can be is understanding your motivation for things. What makes you more determined? What drives you to complete a task? You might have heard us talk about intrinsic and extrinsic motivation on our blog before, but we want to delve in even further. So, keep reading to find out different types of motivation, and then try to understand which one relates mostly to you. Then, you’ll be able to streamline your business in line with your motivation.  

Extrinsic motivation explained

The things that might motivate you in this case are money, perks, status, and praise. So, in that case, it would be important for you to clock In, follow procedures, complete tasks, and do the minimum to ensure that you ticked off the task. Extrinsic motivation can be problematic because it’s not always the best way to view tasks for the long run. Think about it this way, if you’re only performing a task because you’re scared of being sacked or you want a bonus, is it really fulfilling?

What’s ‘identified motivation’?

If you know you need to do a task, but don’t do it, then that means that you’ve identified it but it’s not enough for you to act on it. Think about when you procrastinate, that’s identified motivation because you understand that it needs to be done, but still don’t feel compelled enough to do it. In this case, you’d probably want to dissect it further to see why you are procrastinating so much. 

Intrinsic motivation explained

If you’re intrinsically motivated, then you would be motivated the most by acknowledgement, relationships, belonging, and purpose. You’d get that from building trust, trying to innovate, having commitment and care. This is more likely to last in the long run, but sometimes it won’t be enough to fulfil your needs. 

 What about introjected motivation, what’s that? 

There can be introjected approach and introjected avoidance. These types of motivation are based around internalised pressures, feeling obliged to perform a task in order to impress someone authoritative like a boss or parent. Introjected approach is seeking positive reinforcement and associating your self worth with a job and how well you perform. Introjected avoidance is more based around avoiding the feeling of guilt for failing a task.  

So, what motivates you?

Now we’ve gone over the different types of motivation, what do you think motivates you the most? Once you know what motivation drives your desire to complete your goals, you can reflect on why you want to do it, and then create a strategy from that. Personal development can come from having a good perspective on your reasons for wanting to improve. Being meticulous with your strategy will assist in achieving long term results. Devising a work strategy is fundamental to your success, so why not start looking at how you can increase your motivation?

Here at Alcimi, we specialise in digital transformation to improve work strategy. Want to know how we can help you improve your small business? Pop round for a brew, say hi, and contact us!