How to Demotivate - "Nice job, but..."

How To Demotivate

Want to demotivate someone. Then try saying this - “nice job but…”. How would this comment make you feel? I am guessing you wouldn’t feel motivated.

Why do some managers think this is a good tactic? Telling somebody something positive only to follow it up with criticism is a sure-fire way to de-motivate.

Know When to Employ Positive Reinforcement

There are times and places for employing this type of strategy. For instance, when you are meeting with an employee to discuss a performance issue. In this case, you would want to start with a positive comment before commenting on something that they need to improve.

When performing a coaching or performance improvement session, you always want to start with something positive, this shows the employee that you do see valuable traits in them before you get to something less positive. It also opens them up to receive the criticism.

However, in general, a conversation telling somebody they did a good job only to follow up with a critical comment is not an excellent motivational strategy.

Consider these three key points to make sure you do not de-motivate your employees:

1. Don’t conflate the good with the bad, if somebody does something good tell them. Deal with the positive on its terms. Tell them, “You did a nice job.” Don’t go on to tell them, “good job on that but we could have done more.” Why? If you want more of something good, then focus on the thing you want to see more. 
2. Deal with the less desirable aspect later. Always give more focus to the positive. Celebrate the good stuff. Too often we get so focused on the negative we never take the time to celebrate successes. We demotivate by always seeing the dark side and never seeing the light.
3. Make gratitude part of your daily practice by looking for something to be grateful for in each of your team members on a regular basis. Then tell them that you are thankful. Make this a habit. If you find something to be critical of, then ask yourself whether it is something important or just a minor annoyance. If it is a minor annoyance, let it go. If the activity is something of significance that you can't ignore, then make a note of it to address at a more appropriate time.

A Manager's Attitude Determines Motivation

Our attitudes, actions, and behaviors can have the most significant impact on whether our team is motivated or not.

Before we go around trying to correct others we need to ensure that our attitude is in the correct state.

If we don’t approach our employees with respect and a sense of the good they bring to the team then we will always find ourselves falling back to the “nice job, but…” attitude.

Conclusion

In summary, our job as managers and supervisors is to motivate our employees. “Nice job, but…” is a sure way to demotivate your team.

If you are going to say something positive, then keep the entire message positive. Know when and when not to employ a strategy of positive reinforcement when dealing with performance correction.

Consider the three keys: don’t conflate the positive and the negative, celebrate the positive, and practice daily gratitude.

Nice job. That is all you need. Keep your employees motivated by practicing positivity first. The problems will always be there so don’t allow them to be your primary focus.