Your Team Doesn't Have a Motivation Problem. Your Team Members Have Different Ones.

Written by Kate Vendemio

A colleague of mine recently told me he had "a bit of a motivation issue" on his team. Then, after a breath: "and by that I mean, no one wants to do any work."

I could hear how tired he was. I also noticed what he had just done. In one sentence, he had named a motivation problem for an entire group of people before he had looked closely at a single one of them.

So I got curious and asked him to tell me about each person. The picture changed quickly.

  • Some of his team members want promotions, but they are not yet meeting the basic requirements of the jobs they already have.

  • One person wants to be in charge, and says so.

  • One person is far more focused on studying for graduate school than on the day job.

None of that sounds like "no one wants to do any work." It sounds like people who want very different things. And a one-size-fits-all training session, a pep talk, or a reminder email would have missed all three of them.

If you lead projects or programs, this is a leadership development challenge, not only a training one. The best learning and development work, and any sound learning strategy, starts by getting clear on the real problem, then matching the support to the person.

Why a team-wide diagnosis hurts team motivation

If you work in project management or program management, you carry responsibility for the result, and often for people who do not report to you. Naming a problem for the whole team feels efficient, and it is the same instinct that leads organizations to order team-wide training for what is really an individual need. It is also where things go wrong, for four reasons.

1. You fix the wrong problem. When we assume the whole team is unmotivated, we reach for one fix and apply it to everyone. In my colleague's case, the person who needs skill-building, the person who needs a real leadership opening, and the person whose attention is on graduate school each need something different. One fix, or one training session, cannot reach all three.

2. The label sticks. Once "this team is unmotivated" is out loud, it becomes the lens for every missed deadline. The people doing fine get treated like a problem, and the people with a real issue hide inside the group label where nobody asks them a direct question.

3. People notice when a fix is not about them. A blanket message tells every person that you have not noticed them individually. For someone who wants their contribution taken seriously, that can make things worse, not better.

4. We motivate others the way we like to be motivated. If you run on a detailed plan, you send a detailed plan. A colleague who wants ownership may hear, "I do not trust you to figure this out." Same good intention, opposite result.

The stakes are real. Gallup's global data on employee engagement shows manager engagement fell from 31% in 2022 to 22% in 2025, while non-manager engagement moved only from 20% to 19%. Gallup's own summary is that managers used to enjoy an "engagement premium," but they are increasingly only as engaged as the people they lead (Gallup, State of the Global Workplace 2026). When those of us who lead are stretched this thin, the temptation to reach for one quick fix for everybody grows. It is also the moment we can least afford to guess wrong.

There is a preparation gap too. In the Project Management Institute's Pulse of the Profession 2023, project professionals reported spending 46% of their professional development hours on technical skills and only 29% on power skills (PMI, 2022). Separately, PMI reports that organizations that prioritize power skills are more likely to meet business goals, 72% versus 65% (Garrett, PMI Blog, 2023). That is an association, not proof of cause, but it points where I see it every day: the skill many of us were never trained in is the one that shapes how the work goes. Closing that gap is a core job of any learning strategy for project teams.

Before you fix anything, ask which kind of problem it is

When performance wobbles, in my leadership development work I teach leaders to check three things, which I call the 3-Legged Stool of Great Performance™. Can the person do it (Skill)? Do they know what matters and why (Focus)? Do they have the energy and commitment to act (Will)? When one leg is weak, the whole stool wobbles, and each leg needs a different kind of help. Training does not fix a Will problem. A pep talk does not fix a Skill problem.

Now look at my colleague's team again.

  • The team members who want promotions but are missing basic job requirements are telling you something about Skill. The ambition is real. The gap is in the current role, so the help is practice and feedback, not more encouragement.

  • The person whose energy is going into graduate school may have a Focus question (what does this job need from me, and where does it rank?) or a Will question (what would make this work worth my energy right now?). You will not know which until you ask.

  • The person who wants to be in charge is showing you what drives them. Left alone, that drive tends to go looking for somewhere else to land.

These are my reads from a short description, not verdicts. That is exactly the point. The first step is never a conclusion. It is a question.

Why employee motivation looks different for every person

Skill, Focus, and Will tell you what kind of problem you may be looking at. The next question is what each person is actually running on. In our Munro Model of Motivational Drivers™, people differ in what makes them lean in. Here is a taste, as a real person might say it:

  • Power: "Let me own this." This is not about authority for its own sake. It is the wish to make decisions about one's own work.

  • Respect: "Did anyone read my analysis?" This person wants their contribution taken seriously.

  • Clarity: "How does this connect to the bigger goal?" This person needs to see where the work fits.

There are more drivers than these, and most of us assume everyone runs on the same ones we do. That assumption is where well-meaning leaders go wrong. A clear, detailed checklist is a gift to someone who needs Clarity. To someone who needs Respect or Power, it can sound like, "You do not think I know my job."

And please skip the pizza party as a motivation strategy. It is a lovely gesture. But if the real problem is no clarity, no credit, or no say in the work, pizza says, "we noticed you stayed late" without touching any of them.

Start with one conversation, not a program

You cannot guess someone's driver. You can ask. Try this with one person this week:

"What part of this work do you enjoy most? What part drains you?"

Then listen. If you are wondering whether to jump to a fix, do not. A question treats the person as the expert on their own situation, and it works whether or not you are their manager. It is also the first step of any good training plan, because it tells you whether the person needs training, clearer priorities, or a different kind of support.

If you notice a change in someone, like quieter meetings or fewer ideas, describe what you see without a verdict, then ask one open question. For example: "I noticed you have not raised a risk in the last few meetings. What would help?" Compare people to their own normal, not to the rest of the team.

Team members can motivate each other, too

Motivation on a project does not only flow from the project manager. Peers shape each other's energy every day, with or without a title. Building team motivation this way is leadership development at every level, and you do not need a title to start. A few ways to do it well:

  1. Ask before you thank. A generic "great job" lands differently on everyone. Ask a teammate how they like to be recognized, and notice who lights up when their work is named in front of others and who prefers a quiet note.

  2. Match the thank-you to the person. Public credit speaks to someone who needs Respect. Handing someone a decision speaks to Power. Connecting their work to the bigger goal speaks to Clarity.

  3. Credit people to their own managers. On matrixed teams, the person who writes a team member's review is often not the project manager. If that manager never hears what someone did, the work is invisible. A short note from you can change that.

  4. Share what you know. When priorities or deadlines are unclear, a teammate may be busy on the wrong thing. Passing along what you know costs you five minutes and can lower someone's stress considerably.

  5. Pair people on purpose. Give the person who wants to lead a defined piece to lead, and ask them to support a colleague who is still building skills. Both get something they want.

If you are on a team without formal authority, these still apply. Influence does not require a title. It starts with a good question and a willingness to listen.

One small thing to try this week

Pick one person on your team. Not the team, one person. Hold off on deciding what is wrong, and ask them what part of their work they enjoy most and what drains them. Then do one thing that matches what you heard.

I would love to hear what you notice. Which person on your team have you been quietly labeling, and what might change if you asked them instead?

If you would like support with leadership development, learning strategy, or training and learning and development for your project teams or a group of new managers, reach out to us at info@mtvernonconsulting.com.

Sources

Kate Vendemio
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