imapMyTeam Blog

The Cure for the Summertime Disengaged Blues

In the late 50’s Eddie Cochran wrote a song that many have since covered, probably most famously by The Who and Alan Jackson, titled ‘Summertime Blues’.  The song included the line ‘sometimes I wonder what I’m a gonna do, cause their ain’t no cure for the summertime blues’.

Summer is sometimes the toughest time to keep people focused on their business goals and objectives.  The weather is nice, people are taking vacations, there are lots of family activities that draw our attention elsewhere, and it’s just nice to have more daylight.  Welcome to the summertime blues.

All of these great and positive aspects of summer often cause employee engagement at work to drop off.  Those summer factors just add to the already persistent engagement related issues that you read and hear about so frequently.

If we apply the old adage of ‘where there is smoke there is fire’ to this topic, there is a whole lot of smoke…so there must be a fire somewhere.  High turnover, sub-par performance, absenteeism, re-work, missed goals and objectives or even lots of grumbling and complaining are all indicators that you have a dis-engaged, under motivated team. Fortunately, imapMyTeam can help you find a ‘cure for the summertime blues’

There are two symbols on your Team Player grid that when combined produce a powerful motivational scenario. Those two symbols are the asterisk and the circle. Together they are what we refer to as the Motivation Equation.

The asterisk describes what people love to do and the circle describes what people need from their environment and others around them. Both have to do with motivation. When these two combined characteristics are united, doing what you love to do and receiving what you need, you are energized and when you are energized you will be engaged!

Pay attention to what the asterisk indicates and you'll get better at matching what people love to do with what the business needs. Understanding the circle and people’s needs allows you to customize your approach in support what is important for them to receive from you and others.

We can’t change the calendar, but we can help with the summertime blues! Save time – pass up all the engagement articles and instead apply the insights from the asterisk and circle, the Motivation Equation, for individual and team success.