Rewards

A bit earlier we spoke of rewards as a motivator for high performance, and job satisfaction, but watch out! Take a look at Punished By Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A's, Praise, and Other Bribes by Alfie Kohn.

The trouble comes by singling out individuals for praise or “other bribes” instead of rewarding teams. After all, if there are winners, there are losers. So singling out “”winners” can produce a whole bunch of losers.

There are only a few great pleasures in life, e.g., eating, sleeping—you can name most of them. The one we often miss is being on a team. It’s the best antidote for complaining or negative peer pressure. Join a team and you get the right kind of influence…to do your best for the team.

Effective teams rely on two things: being clear about their purposes and being able to manage the conflicts that are sure to arise.

So team building involves first of all clearing the air of any gripes, then setting goals and objectives, and finally deciding who will do what to reach the objectives. That way, members also get clear about what’s expected of them—another antidote for suffering in bureaucracy.

Being in an organization offers an opportunity to join a team. If there is not one in sight, why not suggest one to the powers that be.