Motivation in Action

Motivation is always essential, and it is especially crucial for the success of group projects. I recently participated in the Target Case Competition, and was fortunately able to make it to the second round. Motivation proved to

be essential to my team’s success. We faced tight time constraints with only six and a half hours to come up with, craft and develop a marketing solution for Target to expand its sales success among college students. We had to maintain extreme focus for the entire duration of the competition. I was able to effectively encourage my team to stay focused by giving them positive feedback and constructive criticism as well as reminding them of our shared goal. . . to win.

I went into the competition more aware of motivation in general, and in that way at least improved my understanding of it. I was able to see all the different factors in play in motivation. There was the deadline, the prize of winning and our obligation to put in our best effort for the sake of our friendship. Next time I will seek to be more intentional in trying to create a motivational environment based on more of the factors contributing to motivation. Having an understanding about what motivation is made of, is very helpful in being able to actually motivate effectively.