Let me tell you a quick story; my friend Brian works in
sales for the UK division of an international company. Every month he sits down with his regional manager for a 'review' of his sales to date.

This consists of the manager examining all the potential customers Brian has called on, who haven't placed an order. Brian is then asked to give explanations on why they haven't placed an order and the manager tells him how he could have done better.

Do you think this is motivational for Brian? Do you think he wants to go out and do even better? Of course he doesn't; all he wants to do is find another job where he would feel appreciated. 

The ironic thing is that Brian is really a good salesperson and regularly hits his target. I also know that his company wouldn't like to lose him. It's just that his manager has no idea about how to motivate Brian and get the best out of him.

The manager primarily sees his role as finding faults and correcting them. In the past year Brian's regional manager has only spent one day with him visiting customers and observing him doing his job.

The Number1 secret of team motivation, is - Spend some quality time!

I didn't say "quantity time" I said "quality time." One or
two minutes of quality time on a regular basis are far more productive than a one hour review every month or every year.

You need to get to know each member of your team better and they need to get to know you. This will help you build a positive relationship with each team member.

Here are 6 good reasons to spend quality time.

1. You'll gain a much better understanding of them and how they're handling the job.

2. It will give the impression that you care about the
individual and show that you're there to help with problems both personal and business.

3. It will encourage opinions and ideas to flow from them and allows you to explain the company's mission.

4. It gives them a feeling of being in on things which is a huge motivator.

5. It will also help you build an "early warning system" of any problems both business and personal.

6. Finally, it builds team spirit and morale.

It's important to get out of your office or up off your seat and interact with your team on a regular basis, don't wait for them to come to you. Pull up a chair and have chat and don't just talk about business, find out how they're doing on a human level. That doesn't mean prying into their personal life, but your team members want to feel that you're interested and care about them as a person.

Listen and observe what they do in their job; tell them what you do like and tell them what you think they could do better. And make sure you really listen to what they have to say.

So there you have it, and if you really think about it, any other relationship that you have - with your partner, your children or your friends will benefit a great deal if you spend some quality time.