"Facilitation of the Motivation Matters Workshop was excellent, very effective and empowering for all participants. Team members reported that they were well informed about team motivation, had a better understanding of diversity in the team, enjoyed the interaction and energy flow of the session, and were able to identify team strategies to meet operational and strategic goals in the coming year."
Ratislav Soltes
Chief UNDP Audit Officer
Industry:
United Nations
Company Size
6 Team Members of the UNDP Office
Background
The Audit Office of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) is based in Istanbul with headquarters in New York. This team of technical specialists occupies a small office supporting a number of UNDP country offices around the world with audit reports and continuous quality improvement processes. The team regularly goes on mission to different country offices including those in conflict zones liaising and negotiating with these offices and providing advice on strategies to improve effectiveness and efficiency in compliance operations.
Business Goal
To create a trusting environment to explore individual and team motivation, behaviour and performance. To further strengthen the team’s capacity to work together and engage productively with key stakeholders in country offices was a top priority. The Motivation Matters Workshop was designed to achieve a better understanding of how motivation impacts on individual and team performance and then identify approaches to continually increase effectiveness and efficiency of team work, increase productivity and improve stakeholder satisfaction.
Approach
The May 2016 map identified a new top motivator “Director” for Jaime jumping from the least preference into the top three. At the time of the first map in 2015, Jaime was in a new role managing a team. This role had changed in the time period leading into the 2016 map where Jaime no longer managed a team. The discovery of how this motivator was important, generated a new career plan where opportunities to manage, leadership and management development and a goal to improve communication skills became a part of Jaime’s new strategic approach to securing a management position. A career coaching approach guided by the accuracy of the Map has empowered Jaime with the awareness, knowledge and motivation to pursue those things that are important to her. Jaime’s confidence has grown and motivation increased as reward strategies are identified and applied.
Results
The UNDP Audit Office was assisted to focus on what motivated them individually and as a team to improve productivity and what they could do to contribute more effectively as a team. They recognised that as a team they had tended to work independently on specific projects. Each team member had his or her own broader network of stakeholders in the country offices. One aim of the team was to identify strategies to build collaboration across the team and increase visibility in the organisation. The team found the workshop an opportunity to have empowering conversations with colleagues using the language of their different motivators to collaborate on their individual and team strengths in the strategic planning session. By identifying the drivers of high performing teams, the team identified further strategies to support each other in the office and in the field, particularly in report writing, quality assurance and joint projects to improve visibility. Achieving a balance in the work load between report writing, quality assurance and going on mission, they could engage more productively with the broader networks in country offices. They were able to identify booster strategies for each of their team’s top motivators and incorporate these into the Office’s strategic plan.
UN Development Programme Audit Team
Using Motivational Maps to Develop a 12 Month Strategic Plan with the United Nations Audit Office.