Motivational Maps in action.
Case Study: United Nations Audit Team
Business goal
To create a trusting environment to explore individual and team motivation, behaviour and performance. To further strengthen the team’s capacity to work together and engage productively with key stakeholders in country offices was a top priority. The Motivation Matters Workshop was designed to achieve a better understanding of how motivation impacts on individual and team performance and then identify approaches to continually increase effectiveness and efficiency of team work, increase productivity and improve stakeholder satisfaction.
Background
The Audit Office of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) is based in Istanbul with headquarters in New York. This team of technical specialists occupies a small office supporting a number of UNDP country offices around the world with audit reports and continuous quality improvement processes. The team regularly goes on mission to different country offices including those in conflict zones liaising and negotiating with these offices and providing advice on strategies to improve effectiveness and efficiency in compliance operations.
Facilitation of the Motivation Matters Workshop was excellent, very effective and empowering for all participants. Team members reported that they were well informed about team motivation, had a better understanding of diversity in the team, enjoyed the interaction and energy flow of the session, and were able to identify team strategies to meet operational and strategic goals in the coming year
Rastislav Soltes, Chief, UNDP Audit Office
Approach
The Chief of the Audit Office attended UNDP’s Leadership and Development Program and received leadership coaching over a period of 6 months prior to his introduction to motivational mapping. On exposure to the individual motivational mapping process during his coaching, he was keen to share this tool with his team of six staff members. Each member of the UNDP Audit Team was invited to complete the motivational mapping questionnaire and was give an in-depth individual debriefing and coaching session. During this debriefing session they learnt about their top motivators and bottom motivators and discussed personal strategies for boosting performance in the workplace. One week after the individual motivational mapping of each team member, a Virtual Team Mapping Workshop was conducted titled Motivation Matters. The three hour virtual workshop conducted at a UNDP retreat combined highly interactive team activities and personal reflection on the motivational profile of the overall team, opportunities and challenges. The team linked the insights gained from motivational mapping to the development of a strategic plan for the next 12 months.
Results
The UNDP Audit Office was assisted to focus on what motivated them individually and as a team to improve productivity and what they could do to contribute more effectively as a team. They recognised that as a team they had tended to work independently on specific projects. Each team member had his or her own broader network of stakeholders in the country offices. One aim of the team was to identify strategies to build collaboration across the team and increase visibility in the organisation. The team found the workshop an opportunity to have empowering conversations with colleagues using the language of their different motivators to collaborate on their individual and team strengths in the strategic planning session. By identifying the drivers of high performing teams, the team identified further strategies to support each other in the office and in the field, particularly in report writing, quality assurance and joint projects to improve visibility. Achieving a balance in the work load between report writing, quality assurance and going on mission, they could engage more productively with the broader networks in country offices. They were able to identify booster strategies for each of their team’s top motivators and incorporate these into the Office’s strategic plan.
Motivational Maps practitioner: Karen Freedman Start A New