6 Founders Provide Tips For Motivating Your Team In 2019

The new year is just around the corner and business owners are already discussing ways that they can motivate their teams in 2019. I spoke with 6 founders of innovative startups and asked them, how they were planning on motivating their teams in the new year.

Amber Manry CEO of Bitcubs
“As a writer, I’m a huge fan of handwritten notes. Whenever I want to recognize someone for their effort, I write letters. I do this with everyone in my life: my husband, children, employees, animation and sound team, clients, and vendors. You’ll feel motivated as well to know your words brightened someone’s day.” Follow Amber & Bitcubs on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook

Shahin Arefzadeh of Ziotis Inc
“We are a virtual company across 3 continent with extreme time zones to cover. It is extremely important for us to have a consistent message as often as we can. We create a fully transparent environment with Slack, so everybody knows where we stand and where we want to go. We always ‘start with why’ and focus on our vision. We know our employees very well, both inside the company and outside. We try to map their vision to the company´s vision and lead by example. I always let them know that I am working for them. They know they can select the tools they want as long as the job is getting done. This “making my own decisions” empower them always to the next level. They know they are part of the bigger picture. I always set the bar a bit higher than they can currently achieve — being a good mentor. Last but not least we are going to issue company shares next year. The most important part of my job is to travel the world and constantly meet the team on 1-o-1 on a regular basis. We do celebrate these occasions all the good things happening to us in the past.” Follow Shahin & Ziotis Inc on LinkedIn

Yegor Nadvornyy of BrainRich Inc
“Discovering and fulfilling their personal interests. I don’t have employees but I have vendors/freelancer and affiliate marketers, which are my partners as well. Each and everyone has their own agenda but they all want to make money. However, since I cannot help them to become rich working with my company alone I’m trying to help them out to do so in the future. For example, folks from Upwork hate paying 20% fees to the platform but they do want the reviews. So I pay them mostly offline and offer them a small portion via the platform plus the 5-star feedback if they deserved it. My web designer will be recognized on an About US page vs typical ‘Powered by XYZ’ note at the bottom. He can use my new upcoming site as his portfolio as well. My accountant get referrals from me all the time. On top of everything, I’ve noticed that people that join me love to bring their ideas. If they feel appreciated and see at least some of their ideas implemented they will be very happy. Some people that I work with have completely different agendas and don’t necessarily do what they do for me as their main gig or desired ideal job. So for them, I’m looking for options to help their actual/main agenda.” Follow Yegor & BrainRich Kids of Instagram

Krish Chopra of NPHub
“Reverse engineer your goals into weekly goals. We have a lofty goal next year or 1067 placements. That means each rep has to complete 7 placements per week. It gives them a target to reach for every week. We also let out team know that when they’re having a tough week, aim to hit this metric. It gives clarity and focus.” Follow Krish & NPHub on Facebook

Bailey Paxton of AgileCare Solutions
“ When it comes to building any startup, communication is key. When it comes to building a global startup, where the team is forced to communicate across four time zones and three different languages, communication becomes increasingly more challenging. And that’s why it becomes ever more important to make it a priority and take the time needed to ensure that communication happens. At AgileCare, we are taking strides in the new year to make standup meetings and scheduling a priority. We are implementing meeting agendas and fifteen-minute cutoffs in order to boost efficiency and not drag on longer than necessary. We also plan on taking advantage of Google Calendar to keep everyone on the same page.” Follow Bailey & Agile Care Solutions on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook

Stephany Gomez of Picante Primo Hot Sauce
“To motivate my team in 2019, I am going to involve them in the process. As entrepreneurs, we tend to want to control everything, but two head think better than one. So if my entire team can cooperate and we can feed off each other's ideas I know the results will be extraordinary. Once a month I am planning to test a marketing or product idea from a different member. I want them to know we are doing it as a team!” Follow Stephany & Picante Primo on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter