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  • 1.  Motivation

    Posted 11-17-2020 15:52
    Does anyone know if there is an assessment instrument that can help an individual identify the items that drive their personal motivation?

    I would like to use this in my Principles of Management class to give each student a bit of insight into their own levers.

    Thanks,
    Colleen OBrien

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    Colleen OBrien
    Assistant Professor
    Carthage College
    Kenosha WI
    (262) 551-5876
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  • 2.  RE: Motivation

    Posted 11-18-2020 13:40
    Colleen -

    I did workshops on motivation with supervisors and managers for many years and I look forward to presenting the topic to graduate students next spring. In my workshops I used two handouts to get participants to self-assess their own motivators.

    The first handout, What Motivates You?, asks participants to think about a time when they were highly motivated and then asks them to select their three top motivators from a list. After participants have completed the exercise (usually less than five minutes), I go around the room and list everyone's number choice on the board. This starts out slowly but goes faster once several items are on the board because I just place checkmarks next to the items that are already written. If the group is small, I will go around a second time and ask for their #2 choice. Once all of the top motivators are written on the board for all to see, I process this for two insights:
    • The vast majority of people's top motivators are intrinsic, rather than extrinsic (Often it is 100%)
    • Different people are motivated by different things
    ​The second handout, Motivation Assessment, may be closer to what you are looking for. As you will see, I ask participants to assess themselves on job characteristics that are linked to intrinsic motivators. Typically I have participants complete the assessment as homework; then in class I use it as the basis of a pair exercise. In the activity, partners take turns interviewing each other about their assessments and then the brainstorm ways to enrich the job of the person being interviewed.

    I hope this is helpful. Feel free to tweak these documents to meet your own requirements.

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    William Weech
    Adjunct Professor
    George Mason University
    Arlington VA
    (703) 993-1770
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  • 3.  RE: Motivation

    Posted 11-19-2020 10:42
    William,
    This is excellent - thanks for sharing - mike

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    Michael Provitera
    Associate Professor
    Barry University
    Plantation FL
    (305) 981-8245
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  • 4.  RE: Motivation

    Posted 11-19-2020 10:44
    Hi Colleen,
    I have a motivation workbook that has a few tools for self identification - I primarily use a personal SWOT and personal vision and mission. 
    Thanks for posting this inquiry.
    mike

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    Michael Provitera
    Associate Professor
    Barry University
    Plantation FL
    (305) 981-8245
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