Motivation in Project Management – The Project Manager’s Perspective (Schmid & Adams, 2008)

Team Motivation on Projects - a Project Manager’s View

Schmid, Bernhard; Adams, Jonathan: Motivation in Project Management – The Project Manager’s Perspective; in: Project Management Journal, Vol. 39 (2008), No. 2, pp. 60–71.

What can a project manager do for the motivation of the project team? ‚A lot‘, say Schmid & Adams in this article. Among the powerful tools a project manager has are optimising energy, autonomy, feedback, and rewards & recognition. The authors find further that the most common factors lowering team motivation are the lack of top management support, personal conflicts on the team, and increases of the project scope. Schmid & Adams relate these factors to the project managers communication skills and thus to his/her ability to create a sub-culture under the organisational arch right from the beginning.

What should a project manager do to create intrinsic motivation? The authors conclude that the project manager should do three things – (1) involve the team early on, (2) understand the individual team members, and (3) motivate the team in the first stage of the project.

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