MBOs, KPIs, and OKRs are key components in how a company achieves its goals and they each represent a different way to achieve those company goals. MBO stands for Management By Objectives; KPIs stand for Key Performance Indicators; OKRs stand for Objectives and Key Results.

While MBOs and OKRs play a vital role in how companies manage their employees and reflect the values of the company and the work environment expected within, KPIs are paired with more specific business objectives.

Let’s define each different strategy (with examples!), list the benefits of adopting the strategy, then follow the provided steps to implement your chosen strategy.

What Are MBOs, KPIs, and OKRs (with examples!)

MBOs, KPIs, and OKRs are all different ways of planning goals and measuring success. Both MBOs and OKRs focus more on the objectives of a business, however, they have very different approaches in doing so. KPIs on the other hand, aim to measure the success of a company’s ventures.

MBO – Management By Objectives

Management By Objectives, or MBO, is a goal-driven system with a heavy focus on results. Goal success is defined as 100% completion at the end of the objectives assigned lifetime.

MBOs are made up of one large overarching goal the company has set. These are then broken down into various supporting goals to be assigned to particular departments, teams, or employees. Because the objectives are formed and assigned from the top down, this strategy often performs best when employees are aligned with the company’s goals and overall values. This creates a company that is working as a whole towards one final objective, at all levels. The main objective in this framework is often set for a long period of time; most commonly they last for a full fiscal year. The results are measured at the end of the year and those who found the highest rates of success are provided compensation for their efforts.

Benefits of MBOs:

MBOs provide a range of benefits to the companies that adopt them as their chosen framework. Some of these benefits include:

• Provides the company with the ability to match specific goals with corresponding departments, aligning them with the core responsibilities of that role in mind.
• Allows for greater autonomy in employees, as they can focus directly on their own progress towards the objective they’ve been personally assigned.
• Helps the company hire and assign tasks with a specific skill set in mind.
  Ensures structure and consistency in the workplace.

Examples of MBOs include:

• Decrease operational costs by 5%.
• Gain one new departmental executive.
• Increase win ratio by 8%.

KPI – Key Performance Indicators

KPI stands for key performance indicators, which are pre-determined sets of values used to evaluate a company’s success and effectiveness in achieving its goals. KPIs are paired with specific business objectives and offer a clearly defined way to determine success. This can be in regards to the business as a whole, a specific project, or even individual employees.

In order for KPIs to be effective, they must be specific and relevant. KPIs are often reflective of a collaborative environment because many roles use the KPI to determine success as a whole. This requires different departments and teams to come together to clearly define the KPIs in a way that everyone can understand, and clearly utilize in their own individual tasks to monitor progress towards a common goal.

Benefits of KPIs:

KPIs provide benefits for the company as a whole, as well as individually to your employees as well. Some of the most notable ones include:

• KPIs give you valuable and quantifiable insight into your company’s success in various areas.
• Ensures teams continue moving in the same direction.
• Makes evaluating your objectives easier.
• Clearly shows where improvements can be made.
• Provides you with a way to assess your teams and hold them accountable with definitive data.
• Helps you get a full understanding of your company’s overall health and the likelihood of future growth.

Examples of KPIs:

When deciding on your KPIs, it’s important to clearly define your goal and be specific in your measurable values. For example, if your company’s goal is to increase your yearly revenue by 30%, your KPIs could be:

• The number of new customers.
• Cost per lead.
• Funnel success rates.
• Total revenue compared to previous years.

OKR – Objectives And Key Results

Objectives and Key Results are one of the more popular frameworks; they’ve been adopted by large corporations like Amazon, Google, Spotify, and LinkedIn. OKR is a strategic framework for defining and achieving a goal. Unlike MBOs that focus solely on the goal itself, OKRs go beyond that. Not only do OKRs set main objectives, but it also puts a strong emphasis on creating the action plan to help you reach success.

OKRs are also designed in a way that allows employees to determine their individual action plans and work within their own preferred style. Just like in the MBO framework, overall objectives are defined by the CEO and higher-ups. However, in an OKR framework, employees then get to create individual goals to help them meet the overarching goals given by their leadership team.

When utilizing OKRs, teams meet more regularly to discuss and measure the progress towards the goal. They then use the information gathered to make any adjustments as necessary. Most often, these meetings are held on a weekly or biweekly basis because the objectives in an OKR framework are often expected to be met over a shorter period of time, usually quarterly. OKRs often define success as achieving 60-70% of goal completion, reflecting the increased difficulty of the assigned goals. This makes learning experiences and personal growth a more valuable asset to the company.

Benefits of OKR:

An OKR framework brings strong benefits to employees, which often bring a significant boost in company success over shorter periods of time. These benefits include:

• Promotes creativity and flexibility within the workplace.
• Provides a level of freedom for employees to work in a way that best suits them. This allows for greater personal involvement in the company’s goals.
• Creates opportunities to adjust the strategy if it’s not tracking the way you anticipated. This leads to higher success rates and more refined strategies for future projects.
• Increases the difficulty level of goals while removing the expectation of 100% success. This provides a unique opportunity to encourage your employees to take on larger challenges.
• Regular meetings increase feedback, supporting employee growth and success
• Encourages collaboration between various members of your company (which brings its own set of benefits!)

Example of OKR:

Objective: Increase sales by 20%

Key Results:

1. New promotional item
2. Increased social media presence and adverts
3. Grow marketing leads by 10%

Which Framework Is Best For Your Company?

Choosing an objective framework that is best suited to your company’s needs is a personal choice that reflects how you’d like your business to be managed. You must take into account many different factors, including:

• What are your company’s growth goals?
• What is your management style? How would you like your employees to be influenced by that?
• What are the primary values of your company?
• What stage is your company currently in?
• What direction do you want to take your company?
• What are some of the most important objectives you’d like to work towards?
• When would you like these goals to be achieved?

Once you’ve answered these questions, you should be able to clearly determine which strategy is best suited for your company’s needs.

(Keep in mind; while MBO and OKR systems are unable to be combined due to their different approaches, KPIs can be included in either system, providing a way to quantifiably measure the success of your system over longer periods.)

How Can You Implement MBOs, KPIs, And OKRs Successfully

Implementing a new framework to guide and measure the success of your goals can be a slow but worthwhile process, especially if you’re trying to adopt a style that doesn’t currently exist within your workplace. Once you’ve chosen which system you’d like to adopt, you can start taking the steps to implement it successfully for your next objective!

Implementing MBOs

1. Define Company Objectives
   • To gain the best results, MBOs must be clear, realistic, and measurable.
   • They must align with the company’s core values.
2. Create Employee Objectives
   • Break your main objective into smaller ones and assign them to your employees. This will ensure each employee’s actions will directly impact the success of achieving your overarching goal. Ensure you communicate with employees clearly and provide them with the necessary resources to find success.
3. Monitor Progress
   • Throughout the MBOs lifetime (often yearly), measure each employee’s performance and consider if they are likely to meet their assigned objective.
4. Evaluate & Provide Feedback
   • Review the efficiency of your employees in meeting their objectives. Provide feedback to them, focussing on positive aspects to encourage productivity in future objectives. This will allow your employees to track their progress within the company, and adjust their work habits as necessary.
5. Reward Performance
   • MBOs have a heavy focus on positive recognition and often reward those who performed the most effectively. This will help reinforce the positive work ethic, and provide growth in individuals’ career paths as they grow within the company.

Implementing KPIs

1. Define your main objective
   • Ensure your objective is clearly outlined and achievable.
2. Identify your KPIs and define how they will be used
   • Create a clear-cut definition and role for your KPI that reflects the objective it is tied to. It is imperative that you know exactly how your main objectives are being measured, at what interval they will be measured, and what success will look like.
3. Review your KPIs regularly
   • When reviewing your KPI, consider not only the current measurement of your KPIs but also their effectiveness towards your final objective. Use the information gathered to influence any adjustments your team may need to make.

Implementing OKRs

1. Educate Your Team
   • Before you can begin implementing an OKR framework, it is essential that you show your team what OKRs are all about. Include the benefits of OKRs from a company perspective and also how they can benefit individual employees as well. Highlight how adopting an OKR approach can meet the unique needs and challenges of your team.
2. Define & Organize
   • Decide on the timeframe you want for your OKR. Then, define what you want to accomplish – along with a couple different ways you will accomplish that objective. Objectives need to be concrete and measurable.
3. Set Company OKRs
   • The head of the company will be responsible for creating the overarching objectives. They know what’s most important for the company to achieve as a whole, and can shape them to fit the values of the company.
4. Set Team OKRs
   • Once the main OKRs are communicated to the managers, they can begin working with their team to create their own OKRs to reflect the company’s. This helps each team create an action plan that fits their skill set, strengths, and their role within the larger goals.
5. Review and Improve
   • Over the lifetime of the OKR, meet with your team regularly to review the current success rates. Discuss and plan any adjustments that may be necessary.

When you’re mapping out a project, do you ever find yourself getting caught in a web of “shoulds” and “musts”?

“We should let the team work independently, but we must let key stakeholders oversee and gauge progress.”

“We must stay within budget, but we should allow for the flexibility to adjust and tweak the deliverable.”

The waterfall and agile methodologies provide clear, but very different, guidelines for project planning. Waterfall has more of a linear, fixed approach, whereas agile is about working in small batches, reflecting, then pivoting. And dancing in and around these guidelines is a real trick.

Each approach has fierce defenders and critics as well. Take Jay Sutherland, who developed the agile scrum framework: “[Waterfall] is slow, unpredictable, and often never resulted in a product that people wanted or would pay to buy.”

That’s a pretty scary outcome! You certainly don’t want to pull out a gantt chart if this is the result you’re going to get!

But, then, taking a purely agile approach means never having a timeline and budget at the get-go. Is this really possible in every scenario?

Sometimes, when you’re stretched between the “rules” of a project management methodology, and the requirements of the project at hand, the path forward is to silence the critics and, as Frank Sinatra would say, “do it my way.”

How do you determine if your project requires a combination of both agile and waterfall? It has to do with asking the right questions at the beginning.

Definitions of Agile and Waterfall

Software development and project management have many approaches. Perhaps it’s an oversimplification to divide them into the two camps of agile and waterfall. Within agile, for example, you have scrum, kanban, lean, crystal, and extreme programming, each with distinctive practices, ceremonies, and tools.

Nevertheless, waterfall and agile represent two central, and in some respects opposite, approaches, so let’s briefly define each, and look at their pros and cons.

Waterfall

Waterfall is a big-picture, top down approach to project management. The leader determines the goal, and then working backward, plots all of the steps to achieve it. The budget and timeline are set from the start.

Success is measured by how well the team stays on the pre-set course, and whether or not it fulfills the criteria outlined in the contract.

Waterfall is great in that it provides certainty around the scope, budget and timeline. Oftentimes a client has fixed requirements, and so waterfall assures them of key milestones and a delivery date. It also sets deadlines for a team to work toward.

However, large waterfall projects suffer from a phenomenon you might call over-planning. It’s impossible to predict every step in a monthslong project, and so oftentimes the plan provides an illusion of certainty. After a few months, the team easily gets way behind, and is forced to work long hours to meet deadlines.

Additionally, its fixed, myopic structure often leads to an outcome where a team has worked and worked to create a deliverable that the end user doesn’t even like, or never uses.

Agile

Agile is an iterative approach to project management, where an autonomous and self-motivated team produces work in small batches. After seeking feedback from key stakeholders, it reflects, then creates more work. Success is measured by a team’s ability to maintain a continuous pace of work from one iteration to the next, and by feedback from the client.

Agile’s collaborative approach means all stakeholders communicate with the development team throughout the project; they get to see ongoing progress and aren’t holding their breath up until the end. The deliverable, then, is more likely to suit the client’s needs.

However, since the team reflects and pivots at the end of each sprint, an agile team can only look four to six weeks ahead. It can’t work around a fixed timeline. And an agile project can’t have a budget at the beginning of a project, as the method permits changes to the deliverable, even late in development. Since an agile team works independently, a manager cannot oversee and course correct, either.

As you can see, waterfall plans a project very differently from agile. Each method has distinct benefits and drawbacks.

6 Questions to Measure a Project’s Agile-Waterfall Meter

It’s really rare that a project would fit perfectly into a pure agile or waterfall approach. Most, rather, fall on a spectrum between the two.

For example, when a project has hard deadlines and a huge initial investment, a lot of planning needs to take place at the beginning. But, if the project entails research and discovery as well, the plan would also require some flexibility.

Determining where your project falls on this spectrum means asking the right questions at the beginning. Here are some to cover.

1. How Much Innovation Does the Project Require?

Sometimes, a project has a pretty clear goal with a definite list of requirements. Consider building an airport. Right from the start, it’s easy to delineate everything that needs to be accomplished, from runways, to departure gates, to luggage collection, to waiting and dining areas. Of course there will be some unknowns, possibly related to regulations or weather delays.

But in a scenario like this, where most of the project is known from the start, a waterfall approach to planning makes the most sense.

However, other projects have a big question mark around the final deliverable. Consider a marketing campaign for a new product. Determining the content of the advertising, where it’s broadcasted, and even the audience, requires extensive research into the customer, and their preferred methods of communication. Plus, the deliverable is likely to be adjusted depending on how the market responds to the advertising.

That is to say, you can’t plan for requirements at the beginning if you have no idea what the final product looks like. In these instances, an agile approach, which allows for pivoting and adjusting, works better. You can elevate your Agile methodologies skills and open yourself to various job opportunities by becoming a Certified Scrum Master. It’s easy! Opt for a CSM Certification training, and you’re good to go!

2. How Certain is the Scope?

Some projects have such a clear deliverable that the scope isn’t likely to change much at all. Plus, the final deliverable is fairly stable.

Consider building a dock. From the beginning, it’s fairly easy to determine the size and the exact materials required. Additionally, the dock may well last twenty or thirty years, with minimal repair.

When the scope is clear, and the final deliverable is stable, then a predicative waterfall approach is the way to go.

On the other hand, many projects require constant updates and tweaks, even during the production phase. Something like software needs updates as soon as it’s released, and periodically thereafter.

These projects benefit from an agile approach, which anticipates making changes late in the game, and pivoting if necessary.

3. What is the Impact of Making Changes?

On some projects, making an adjustment is hugely disruptive and expensive. Consider laying the foundation of a building. Making changes to its size and location after it’s already been laid incurs huge increases to the project’s cost and timeline.

In this instance, you can’t just wing it. It’s crucial to plan everything carefully at the beginning.

With a project for something like a software system or an app, however, it’s relatively simple to adjust buttons and tweak features. This doesn’t add a lot to the project’s scope.

In these instances, where you’re looking for more flexibility, and changes don’t make a huge impact, then a flexible agile approach wins the day. Over-planning only gets in the way.

4. How Final is the Deliverable?

Sometimes a project’s deliverable is pretty set in stone. To get literal, consider a stone walkway up to a house. It’s not really going anywhere after it’s completed. In this instance, it’s necessary to study the project beforehand, which means taking a structured waterfall approach.

Other times, the deliverable can change rather easily. For example, a marketing campaign can be delivered in piecemeal, and be continually tweaked to reach different audiences. In this instance, an agile approach makes the most sense.

5. Which Method Reduces Risks?

When initial investments into a project are really high, then it’s no time for trial and error. It’s necessary to plan everything out beforehand, and a lot of research needs to happen before the project even begins, in order to reduce the risk of losing the start up costs.

Other times, too much planning actually increases the likelihood of creating a sub-par deliverable. This is actually why Sutherland invented scrum, as alluded to in the introduction. Software development, generally speaking, must be open to constant change and adjustment.

When a fixed plan increases the risk of producing poor quality, then an adaptive approach is best.

6. How is the Project Limited by Safety and Regulation?

Some projects are really encumbered with legal and safety requirements, for example in the areas of banking and credit cards. When this is the case, the project manager would lean toward a structured, waterfall approach, in order to give the project a strong framework.

In sum, various kinds of projects are more suited to either a waterfall or agile approach. Asking the right questions allow you to make this determination, and in turn draft a good development plan.

Most of the time, a project is on a spectrum between the two. You usually won’t have a scenario where something is purely waterfall or agile. This is why a hybrid solution is necessary.

Models of Agile-Waterfall Hybrid in Project Management

Even after you’ve determined where a project falls on the agile-waterfall spectrum, it’s hard to know practically what the planning should look like. Do you continue with scrum ceremonies, and utilize a gantt chart at the same time?

The solution is really tailored to the individual, but here are two models of what a hybrid approach could look like in an organization.

Fixed Planning With Iterative Development

One hybrid approach that teams find effective is a waterfall approach to large-scale planning, and an iterative approach to shorter incremental development. Let me show you what it means.

On the quarterly and yearly calendar, the organization looks at where it wants to be, and plots significant milestones on a gantt chart.

Next, it takes these items from the gantt chart, and puts them into the product backlog, breaking them down into tasks suitable for sprints. Then, it organizes sprints around these tasks, and reflects and pivots, etc.

The quarterly goals may be adjusted based on the increment and feedback developed during the sprint.

Staggered Agile-Waterfall Approach

When an organization is really large, and has many departments and managers, a pure agile approach is totally unrealistic. Take a monthslong project like a website redesign. Just letting the team independently complete the project over several months wouldn’t cut it for many of the managers. They’d want to see a plan and periodic progress.

At the same time, many facets of the project require tons of research. And so the deliverable would change and adjust as the team talks with various departments around the content it wants on the website.

These requirements mean that the approach must stagger between waterfall and agile. The development is iterative for a few stages, working in small batches, seeking feedback, reflecting, and pivoting. Then, it switches to waterfall in order to meet manager requirements.

Well these are just two examples of what an agile-waterfall hybrid can look like. It’s good to experiment with a few mix ups, and to reflect on what works best for you.

It feels like someone is chasing you. Your workload is getting heavier and heavier. Expectations rise faster than performance. You run faster. You strive to earn more, to do more, and to be more. Surprisingly, only one thing remains unchanged: the number of hours you have in a day…

The comforting news is that you’re not alone. People increasingly feel the pressure of finishing too much work within too little time. In fact, millions of American workers quit their jobs in 2021. One of the top reasons? They want a better work-life balance.

Moreover, a recent paper by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labor Organization (ILO) suggests that working long hours “is the single largest risk factor” for occupational disease. The Covid pandemic has taken the situation even further by bringing new forms of workplace fatigue and exhaustion.

Stress, burnout, loss of motivation… The ruining consequences of excessive workload are real. And people believe that to live in that reality they simply need to set up a calendar and put in a due date for each task. Not true. Workload management means a lot more. It’s a strategic approach to planning your capacity. It’s estimating, tracking, and auditing your resources and limitations – consistently and consciously.

1. Plan before you start.

Every single task on your daily calendar should be linked to a specific goal. Following this tip will give you a sharp eye for detecting a task that doesn’t fit into the larger picture and should be cut down.

Resist the temptation to rush in and get started on the next project. You’ll be surprised how much time planning will save you later on.

Companies around the world provide an interesting hint. The 10th Global Project Management Survey indicates that the two primary causes of project failure are change in an organization’s priorities (39%) and change in project objectives (37%). Combined, that’s a whopping 76% of all reported cases!

Double and even triple workload is unavoidable when threats and opportunities are not considered carefully. If you don’t want to be thrown back to the starting line, setting clear goals and objectives should go first.

2. Prioritize to complete the right tasks.

Once you have your goals outlined and a plan to achieve them, you need to build a lighthouse – your guiding light in the stormy sea of everyday hustle and bustle.

That’s when you need to figure out what the difference is between urgent tasks and important tasks. Eisenhower Priority Matrix will help to classify your work and think critically about your priorities. Note that you should aim to work on the tasks from the “important but not urgent” category (marked in blue below).

Using this chart will reduce the unnecessary fuss and allow you to push secondary tasks for later.

By the way, here is when to-do lists come into play. They help to stay focused and boost your productivity if you learn how to master them. You simply need to make sure you don’t have multiple lists. Keep only one.

Your to-do list will not only keep you on track but will also serve as a sip of encouragement. When was the last time you ticked the box to mark a task completed? What a superb feeling, right?

3. Take on the hardest tasks first.

You may choose to complete easier tasks first to manage your workload better. Forget it. Professionals warn us that many people have tried it and failed. The reason? This improves your performance in the short term, but if you rely solely on this strategy it hurts performance in the long run. Maryam Kouchaki, one of the authors of this research, explains: “When we are overwhelmed and busy, we just go with easier tasks, and the difficult tasks tend to pile up.”

Not only your to-do list but also the entire project planning should follow this logic. The most pressing tasks are to be placed on top.

Wait. Are you afraid of tackling the hardest tasks first? Don’t panic. Create milestones! Think creatively about how you can break the project into easier chunks so that you enjoy that blessed sense of making progress.

4. Split it up and delegate.

Why spend so much effort on something that someone else can accomplish more successfully? Yes, you’re hard-working, committed and you want to deliver that project. And you can surely go ahead and take all of those responsibilities on yourself, but it’s a sure path to burnout or unnecessary stress.

Consider adding the question “Who can help to finish this task?” to your personal workload management techniques.

Administrative tasks (or anything that someone else can quickly learn and complete) should be considered to be delegated. Learn how to delegate administrative tasks and remember that according to a Gallup study, CEOs who master the art of delegating, generate 33% higher revenue.

Don’t spread yourself too thin. Whenever possible, get it off your desk.

One final note before we move on. When delegating tasks, do it fairly. People should understand that delegation doesn’t mean you don’t want to pull your weight. They should clearly see that you recognize their unique strengths of doing something more effectively than you could.

5. Block off time for emails and calls.

Replying to that urgent message. Checking if there is anything important in the email you’ve just received. Answering that last phone call… Did you notice that you’re now switching tasks and multitasking?

Let’s face it. We’re hooked. Technology has us in its grip. We don’t even notice that emails and notifications force us to switch tasks causing brain downtime and loss of productivity.

Although juggling different projects has become something people brag they’re good at, research provides clear evidence for the negative impact of multitasking. It triggers stress, depression and increased levels of anxiety.

Allocate time to checking and replying to your emails and calls. Silence social media notifications. Keep in mind that personal workload management is a tough call. Remove the traffic jam in your head to be able to handle your workload effectively.

6. Learn to be imperfect.

If you’re a perfectionist, this point is not about putting blame on you. In fact, being a maximizer may help you persist when others get disappointed and give up. It helps you take your skills to the next level and eventually, stand out from the crowd. Keeping your standards high is important, but effective workload management strategies are all about thinking strategically about when you should tell yourself: it’s good enough!

Be careful. Don’t let your perfectionism kill your creative self. Author, professor, and podcast host Brené Brown points to interesting research showing that in perfectionist workplace cultures, people often report that there is no innovation or creativity.

Therefore, especially in times of heavy workloads, your motto should be “better done than perfect.”

7. Don’t be a pleaser.

If you’re someone who says yes too often, most probably you feel the pressure of not letting anyone down – be it a co-worker, a family member, or a client. But when you try to be all things to all people, you forget that your time is limited.

Try this. Don’t respond reactively; instead, take some time to think about the consequences of saying “Yes”. Practice saying: “I can do it, but which of my tasks can wait?”

Real progress is not about taking on more and more. It’s about having the courage to be honest with yourself and the people around you about what’s not working.

8. Set realistic expectations and plan for buffers.

When planning, you can use 100% of your working time and squeeze everything into your schedule. “Looks good,” you tell yourself.

But the cruel truth is – it’s not realistic to occupy your entire schedule (especially for an extended period of time). There should be time left for buffers. Build flexibility into your schedule and consider at least a buffer of 10%.

You can have everything set up and follow every single deadline. And then bang! Force majeure! Now you must rush to ad hoc meetings, make quick decisions, handle increased stress… You need time to adapt and keep on managing your personal workload effectively.

Last but not least, your workload is not only your load at work. There is more beyond the job – your family, your friends, your health, and time for yourself. Sorry for the reminder! But this takes us to our ninth tip.

9. Take care of yourself.

Do you forget to fuel your car before driving? Have you ever used your phone without charging it? Then how come you forget about ‘charging’ your body and your mind?

When Amanda Rose, a business consultant, was asked about the consequences of fatigue, she gave us a warning: “Burnout sucks the joy out of anything you do at work.” It drains your positive energy while you’re “trying to make it through the next hour.”

To save yourself from this, you need to exercise and get enough sleep. Luckily, no one needs a long lecture about why these two things are important.

However, if you don’t feel motivated enough to start, let’s ask Wendy Suzuki to help you. In her enlivening talk, she explains how physical activity can protect your brain by boosting your mood and memory.

What’s more, the right amount of sleep restores your ability to concentrate and be creative. “Our ability to come up with novel solutions to complex problems is hugely enhanced by a night of sleep,” says neuroscientist Russell Foster. Simple as that. You only need a week of good night’s sleep to start witnessing a transformation.

In order to be successful in business, it’s important for managers to be able to motivate their employees. However, this is easier said than done, as managers face a variety of challenges when trying to motivate their teams.

In this blog post, we’ll take a look at the top 17 problems managers face when attempting to motivate employees today. We’ll also offer some tips on how to overcome these challenges. So, if you’re looking for ways to boost your team’s motivation levels, read on!

Top 17 problems managers face

1. Finding dependable talent
2. Employee turnover
3. Change in job descriptions
4. Uncertainty in future
5. Tracking team productivity
6. Training
7. Motivating employees
8. Challenge your employees without overwhelming them
9. Empowerment in problem-solving
10. Feeling undervalued and insecure
11. Focusing on the negative
12. Unavailable team members
13. Toxic team members
14. Dealing with different generations
15. Team meetings
16. Remote work
17. Lack of trust

1. Finding dependable talent

Hiring is a challenge for every manager. You need to find the right person with the right skills, experience, and personality fit. It’s hard enough finding one person who checks all those boxes, but it can be even harder when you have multiple openings that need filling.

The problem is that most employees are looking for something more than just a paycheck. They’re looking for an opportunity to grow their skills and learn new things every day. Unfortunately, many companies don’t offer these opportunities, which means they lose talented employees who leave soon after training is complete.

So, how do you attract top talent without breaking the bank?

You can do a couple of things to attract the employees you need. Start by removing the obstacles that are keeping top workers from applying for your open positions.

For example, if there’s a bottleneck in your hiring process, make sure to streamline it so candidates don’t have to wait around to be considered.

Also, consider establishing an employee referral program so that current employees can refer potential candidates that they know would be a good fit.

If you want to attract top talent, it’s important to make sure your employees are engaged and happy so let them get involved in the recruitment process.

2. Employee turnover

There are a lot of reasons why people leave their jobs, from the company culture to low pay. But no matter what the reason is, it’s expensive to replace employees — especially talented workers. So how do you hold on to top talent?

It starts with creating a company culture where your employees want to stay and grow. That means providing opportunities for career advancement, challenging work, and clear expectations so everyone knows what’s expected of them. You also need to ensure your pay is competitive and fair, and that you treat your employees with respect.

Finally, make sure you have a plan for growth within the company since talented employees feel most engaged when they’re learning new skills.

3. Change in job descriptions

It’s incredibly difficult to manage employees when the job description keeps changing. This can be extremely challenging.

Too much change can create mixed messages for your employees who might be unclear about the task you want them to complete. This is frustrating for employees and it can take up a lot of your time as people keep coming back to you for direction on what they should be working on.

So what should you do?

The best thing you can do is stay ahead of the curve and present a clear plan for how your team will respond to these changes. Sit down with your employees and create a system for communicating where they stand in the company at all times. This way, everyone knows what’s expected of them and what the end goal looks like.

4. Uncertainty in the future

As a manager, you know that uncertainty can make it hard to get your team motivated and working at their best.

We all know that the future is unpredictable. So how can you motivate your team when there are no guarantees about what happens next?

The key is to explain exactly what your team needs to accomplish today, to create the best possible tomorrow. That means discussing with them how day-to-day tasks lead to long-term goals, and why they must keep moving forward even when there are no guarantees about what happens down the line. Reassure your employees that their hard work will pay off in the long run.

5. Tracking team productivity

As a manager, it can be hard to track your team’s productivity, because you have to juggle so many different responsibilities. You need an easy way to ensure that everyone is doing their part and contributing as much as they possibly can.

The easiest way to do that is by implementing a software solution like Teamly. Teamly provides a feature that allows you to monitor the progress of your staff while also providing them with a clear route to achieve outstanding results.

Teamly is designed with managers in mind so it can help you share important information about company goals and key metrics, which your employees can check at any time so everyone is on the same page. You can also set up check-ins to ensure everyone is on the same page and making progress.

It’s such a powerful way for managers to keep their team motivated and moving in the right direction.

6. Training

As a manager, you know how important it is to train new employees. You want them to be productive as soon as possible so that the company can make money and grow.

But training takes time, especially if your team has never worked together before or if they’re coming from different companies with different methods of working. It’s hard for managers because there’s no one-size-fits-all solution to training an employee.

Every company is different and it’s important to find the right training solution for your specific company. But in general, the best solution is to prioritize training for new employees.

Give them access to the tools they need so they can get up to speed quickly and implement new ideas on the fly. Since every new hire is different, you have to address their unique needs with custom training sessions.

This way, they’ll be ready to take on their responsibilities right away instead of making major mistakes that will take you and your team more time to correct.

7. Motivating employees

It’s hard to motivate people. Even if you have a clear vision of what needs to be done and how it should be accomplished, getting your team members on board can be challenging.

One reason is that motivation doesn’t come from the top-down; it comes from within. People need to feel inspired by their work for them to put forth an effort, which means that managers need to know how best to inspire those under them.

In short, the key is to address the individual needs of each member of your team.

Instead of treating everyone like they’re interchangeable parts, make sure you understand what motivates different types of people and how best to communicate with them. The best managers are ones who know their employees as individuals, which means knowing how to motivate each person properly.

8. Challenge your employees without overwhelming them

As a manager, you have to be able to motivate your team without being too pushy.

The best managers know how hard it is to strike the balance between challenging employees and overwhelming them with tasks.

It’s easy for new bosses or those attempting to modify their management style to jump from one end of the spectrum, where they micromanage every aspect of an employee’s workday, to the other, where they don’t push their team and simply let them do whatever they want. Neither approach is ideal.

The best managers know how to walk the line and give their employees enough guidance without taking over for them. When you micromanage, you take away a lot of your team members’ autonomy which can make them resentful and less likely to go above and beyond for the company.

But when you don’t give them enough guidance, there’s a very real chance they will make mistakes and fall behind. So it’s important to give your team members the right amount of challenge without overwhelming them with too much work.

For example, try breaking down tasks into smaller pieces so that employees don’t feel overwhelmed by everything on their plate. This way they’ll be able to accomplish more and feel good about their accomplishments.

9. Empowerment in problem-solving

As a manager, it’s never easy to give up control.

It’s your nature to solve all of the problems that come your way since you have more experience than everybody else. Plus, it feels good to be the one who comes up with solutions for other people’s problems because you feel useful and appreciated.

But this is the opposite of empowerment, which is all about giving up control.

It’s important to let go of your need to come up with every solution and instead empower the other people on your team by giving them the tools they need to solve problems themselves. This will not only make them more engaged in their work, but it will also help you be seen as a manager who is capable of leading their team to success.

10. Feeling undervalued and insecure

Your employees have egos. They need to feel appreciated and valued for their contributions to be motivated to stick around. If they don’t feel valued, there’s a good chance they’ll leave the company which will put your team behind in terms of productivity levels.

This is one reason why you must communicate with your team. When you don’t give feedback, employees start to feel insecure and undervalued.

So it’s important to be proactive about your communication so that your employees feel confident in their work and don’t have to worry about being under-appreciated. It’s easy for managers to get caught up in all of the daily tasks on their plate without giving any thought to how their employees are feeling, but this is one way you can lose motivated competent staff.

The best way to communicate with your team is to take into account what they value and how you can deliver it in a way that will make them feel valued.

11. Focusing on the negative

Team members who are fixating on the negative can be a real drag. Not only do they ruin the office morale, but their pessimistic attitudes can also start rubbing off on other team members. You don’t want to discourage your employees from being open and honest about their feelings, but there is a difference between venting and constantly complaining.

While it’s important to let team members know that you’re listening, it’s even more important for them to understand that it’s more productive to focus on the positive.

Your team members don’t want to hear why something won’t work or about all of the flaws in an idea. Instead, they want to hear how you will make things happen and how you’re going to solve problems together.

So balance out your team member’s negativity by showing them what you’re planning to do and how it will benefit everyone.

12. Unavailable team members

Have you ever had this happen to you? You send a message to your team member and never hear back. This can be incredibly frustrating because you won’t know if they’ve received your message or if they’re ignoring you.

Unfortunately, it happens often in the workplace, so it’s important for managers to keep in mind how to prepare your team for what the expectations are, in terms of their response time.

This can easily be executed on the front end of your employees’ orientation by communicating with them about how quickly you expect to hear back from them and what is an acceptable amount of time.

What happens if they don’t meet the expectations that were set up at the beginning? This can lead to a number of different problems and frustrations on both ends, which is why it’s important to establish response times right away.

It’s also a good idea to avoid waiting until there is a problem before you address it. Confronting it quickly and transparently will make your employees feel respected, which could prevent them from feeling undervalued in the future.

13. Toxic team members

It can be hard to pinpoint who’s affecting your team’s morale, but it’s important that you address the problem immediately. Toxic team members can lead to a number of problems, such as decreased productivity and emotional burn out in the rest of your team.

It’s important to confront toxic team members because their negative attitudes can spread like wildfire if you don’t actively try to prevent it from happening. It’s almost impossible to address this without having an open conversation with them, so coming up with a solution to the problem is important.

If they don’t think their attitude can change, you may need to make a tough decision and let them go. It’s not easy doing this because you want to do everything in your power to help team members grow and succeed. That’s why it’s important for managers to have open communication with their team members in the beginning so they can help them succeed. However, if your toxic team member is not willing to work on their attitude, this might be your only choice.

14. Dealing with different generations

Bridging the gap between different generations in the workplace is an ongoing challenge for managers. Not only do you need to be aware of how each generation interacts with your team, but you also need to be able to adapt and change in order to keep everyone engaged and productive.

Generational differences will always exist in the workplace, that’s why it’s so important for managers to pay attention to the working styles of each generation.

For example, if you have a Millennial team member who doesn’t want to communicate regularly in person with their manager, this might cause a problem. Millennials are known for wanting more flexibility and independence than other generations because they value working on teams and love collaborating.

If you want to make sure you are providing this for them, it might be a good idea to meet up with them in person once a week.

As managers, we need to roll with the punches, even when there are generational differences present in our teams. The key is not to fight them but rather adapt and learn how to work with them in a productive manner instead.

15. Team meetings

Meetings can make or break a team’s productivity. If your meetings lack purpose, it’s likely that you will lose your employee’s attention and they will disengage.

However, if you make sure your meetings have goals and intention, your employees will most likely stay focused and engaged.

Additionally, try to avoid going too long with your meetings. People have a limited attention span and if you keep them in a meeting for too long, they will start checking their emails or even daydreaming.

Also, try to keep everyone on the same page and avoid going over old information again and again. If you do this, you are wasting time and your attention span will be limited even more. Go around the room to make sure everyone is on the same page instead.

Keep in mind, if your team members feel like they are unable to contribute during meetings, it might be a good idea to let them send their input through email instead. This can give them time to think about what they want to say before adding their opinion, making it more detailed and thorough.

Having meetings with your team is an incredibly important part of being a manager because it builds trust by creating consistency.

Remember that running a meeting isn’t an easy task – it takes preparation, creativity and patience. If you plan your meetings in advance, make sure the goals are clear and concise.

How often should you have meetings with your employees? It depends on what you’re discussing and how often, but it’s always a good idea to meet with your employees once or twice a month.

This can help keep everyone motivated and on the right track when it comes to their work, which is why you need to take this responsibility seriously.

16. Remote work

Remote work can be a great way for employees to have a flexible schedule and work from home. However, it isn’t always as successful as you might imagine.

If your team member is planning on working from home every day, you need to make sure they have space and time to do so. The last thing you want is for them to have a bad work-life balance because they are trying to fit too much into their day.

You also need to make sure they have the technology required to do their job from home, such as a computer and internet connection.

Additionally, you might not be able to trust them if they aren’t in the office with you. You don’t want them to slack off or not come in when they are needed.

It’s important to create specific goals for your remote employees and make sure they are aware of what you expect from them while they work remotely. You can even schedule weekly meetings if necessary.

Remote workers might be the future of the workplace, but it is crucial that managers make sure they are meeting their expectations.

17. Lack of trust

Trust is the foundation of any relationship and as a manager trust is your currency. If your team doesn’t trust you, it’s hard to get anything done.

There are a few ways you can build trust with your employees. One of the most effective ways is to create a transparent team culture. If your employees know what the goals of your company are and that you have their best interests in mind, they will be more likely to trust you.

In order to do this, let them know how the different parts of the company work together and show them how their role contributes to the bigger picture.

Additionally, never gossip with your employees. If you have to talk about someone, keep it professional and private. Gossiping can result in a lot of problems for you and your team, so try to avoid it at all costs.

Another way to build trust with your employees is by being transparent when making changes in the company.

If there are any plans to change the structure of the company, be open with your team about them. They need to know what’s happening so they can adjust accordingly and continue doing their best work.