In this WebQuest, you will work in small groups of 3. You will start your activity by researching how motivation can have an impact on task performance, as well as the different types of motivation.
Afterwards, you will have a discussion about how motivation has an impact when you're performing tasks as well as brainstorm some ways to stay motivated when working.
Next you will carry out some research on tools and planning techniques you can use to divvy up tasks and help keep you motivated during the day.
Next you will make an example priority matrix for motivation using your daily and weekly tasks from your everyday life. This matrix will be used as an example for Anya!
Finally, you will create your poster to put up in your office about motivation during work using digital tools.
Step 1: Understanding Motivation
To start off, we need to understand how motivation works and how it can have an impact on your ability to work and complete tasks on time. There are different types of motivation which each have a different impact on our ability to complete tasks on time and to the best of our ability.
Carry out some research about motivation and its impact on task performance. Here are some articles to get you started: <br>
Step 2: Keeping Motivated When Working
When you have finished your research, it’s time to look at the factors that can affect your motivation to complete tasks. As a group, have a discussion about how you are motivated when working. Using the questions below, consider motivation and its impact on you.
Once you have completed your discussion, it’s time to brainstorm! As a group, brainstorm some ways that a person can stay motivated when working. Use the internet to find some ways that companies or businesses promote employees to stay motivated, and try to come up with a few of your own.
Here are some links to get you started:
Step 3: Using Tools to Stay Motivated
One of the best ways to keep motivated at work and keep on top of all the tasks you have to complete daily, weekly, and monthly, is to plan them out. Take some time as a group to research the different tools and planning techniques that you can use to stay on top of your tasks.
Here are some suggestions to get you started:
Step 4: Putting It All Together
Putting your work together, you are going to produce an example priority matrix for the tasks that you have to do daily, weekly, and monthly. Try and divide up the tasks based on your motivation levels for completing them. Because this is a mock priority matrix, try to use tasks that you have to complete at home or in your personal life.
Here’s a template that you can use:
Step 5: Creation Time
Putting all of your work together, begin to create your poster using Canva or Jamboard. Take your time and try to make your poster as creative as possible. Try to include all of the following:
Here are some links to some platforms you can use to create your digital poster:
Learning Outcomes Matrix
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At the end of this WebQuest, the teacher/tutor can use these self-reflection questions to find out how the students felt about this activity:
Congratulations! You have now completed this WebQuest. In this WebQuest, you have learned about the importance of motivation in task performance at work and the different types of motivation that can impact your performance. You have also explored various strategies, you will be able to increase your motivation and achieve success in your work. Finally, you developed a personalised plan for increasing your motivation and improving task performance. By implementing these strategies, you will be able to boost your motivation, increase your productivity, and achieve success in your work.
As always, we will start working individually, finding each person's motivation to work on the task or the project, and little by little we will work more deeply as a group to find a common motivation that generates a good working environment.
We will start by defining what is personal motivation and what is group motivation. Here are the definitions of each concept:
• Personal motivation or self-motivation is having the drive and enthusiasm to achieve something without the supervision or influence of others. When an
individual is motivated, he or she feels more fulfilled and sees it possible to achieve his or her goals.
• Motivating team members involves taking actions that have a positive influence on their satisfaction and on the work, they do, so that they move forward together towards a common goal.
1. Analysing our motivation
We will ask each participant to reflect on the things/activities/situations that have motivated them throughout their lives.
We will give them a cardboard with 3 divisions: past, present and future. The aim is for them to put these reflections on the cardboard in a creative way, not just by writing them down. They should think about what motivated them to do something in the past, what motivates them today and what motivates them to think about the future.
Afterwards, we will share them together. It is not necessary to focus this search on the workplace, but if we have a group with a long history of working together, or of people who have been working for the company or organisation for a long time, we can focus these reflections on the workspace.
We will put our thoughts together, without forcing anyone to express themselves, and look to see if there is any common motivation or has been in the past.
2. The ideal team
This motivational exercise for group practice makes it possible to reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of the people in the group and the need to come together to enhance resources or strengths and at the same time makes them reflect on how they can work together to strengthen each other's different weaknesses.
We put the group in a random circle, if there are friendship groups it would be ideal to separate them to achieve more objective results.
We start by asking the participants to write on a card five individual strengths they see in themselves and five weaknesses they detect in their work.
We will allow 5-10 minutes of reflection for them to really think about and analyze these points.
Once written down, we give them another card where they should write down at least three strengths and three weaknesses of the person on the right. We should remind the group of the objective of these dynamics and ask that no one is offended by the reflections of their colleagues, also that no one draws hurtful conclusions, that they write down and reflect based on assertiveness.
We will also allow them 5-10 minutes for reflection. After this time, we will read these reflections aloud. First read what you have written about yourself and compare it with what your partner has written about you.
When all the people have read, you can start to consider how they can work on the weaknesses they have detected, individually, but also as a group.
3. The communicator
In this work motivation game, one person in the group draws a picture and hides it from the others. He or she then must give instructions to the others so that they can reproduce it. Finally, the original is compared with the copies.
This work dynamic invites reflection on the need to improve communication skills, i.e. how to give instructions, listen and interpret, especially when the differences between the versions are very evident.
It can be made more complex and the sketch can be replaced by a construction of blocks (Lego type), which are formed inside a box to keep them out of sight of the others.
We can repeat this game as many times as we think necessary and ask the participants if they want to play the role of communicator, leaving this option we can also analyze which people have more of a "leader" or "coordinator" role.
In conclusion, motivation plays an essential role in the work environment. It not only drives employee performance and satisfaction, but also stimulates creativity, promotes teamwork and contributes to talent retention. Therefore, it is essential for organisations to implement effective strategies to motivate their employees and create a positive and productive work environment.
Task performance is not just important for getting through the day-to-day at work. Task performance is also very important for when you are planning for the future. Being able to consistently complete tasks and move towards the next thing can help you to develop your career goals and move forward in your position. In this WebQuest, you are going to explore the importance of self-control and persistence when performing tasks and how to plan for your future.
For the past few years, you have worked in an office with some of your friends. Recently, you have decided that you would like to get further in your career, but you don't know how. To get to where you want to be, you have decided to set some goals to help you get what you want from your career!
In this WebQuest, you will work in small groups (ideally 3 people). To begin with, you will have a group discussion in your groups about your motivation for your future goals.
After your discussion, you will begin your research about how to set short-term goals and the importance of them in achieving your future plans.
Next you will do some research on setting long-term goals and how to achieve your motivational aspirations through persistence.
With your new-found knowledge on goal-setting, it’s time to set your goals to achieve your plans for the future. Using the SMART goal-setting technique, you will create an example 5 year plan.
After you have set your goals, it is important to investigate what skills you will need to improve to accomplish these goals.
Finally when you have complied all this information and set your goals, you will develop a personal development plan to help guide you in the future!
Step 1: Self-Reflection/Brainstorming
The most important step in any goal-setting process is to understand what you want out of your career and for your life. This goes beyond questions about what you want to do with your life or career, and more in-depth into what you need to be happy, and what you would like to be happy in the future.
In your group, have a discussion about your motivations to discover what you would like from your future to understand what you would like so you can understand what you would need to achieve in order to get this:
Step 2: Goal-Setting for the Short-Term
Now that you understand your motivations for a happy and fulfilled future, it’s important to learn how to set short-term goals to achieve the most necessary items. What are the tools that you need to achieve your goals, and how can you get them?
To complete this step, carry out some research into short-term goal setting, and its importance for task performance.
Here are some links to get you started:
When you have finished your searching, take some time amongst yourselves to set three short-term goals for achieving your ideal dreams!
Step 3: Goal-Setting for the Long-Term
The second step in your goal-setting process is to learn how to set long-term goals. These are goals for the next 5, 10, or 15 years. This is where the big picture comes in. Setting goals for the long-term for both your professional and personal life is important.
Carry out some research into long-term goal setting and techniques for helping you set goals long-term.
Here are some links to get you started:
When you have finished your searching, take some time amongst yourselves to set three long-term goals for achieving your ideal dreams!
Step 4: SMART goals
After you have completed your research, it’s time to set your own personal development goals. Reflect back on your motivations that you discussed in Process 1, and begin to think of ways you can fulfil these motivations through goal-setting.
In particular, it is recommended that you follow the SMART goal-setting method which allows you to set goals that can be achieved both long-term and short-term. Using the SMART goal setting technique, you should set at least 5 goals aimed at your motivations or future plans that you discuss at Process 1.
Here are some links to planning tools that can help you:
Step 5: Skills Improvement
Reflecting on your SMART goals plan, think about what skills you need to improve to get to the place where you want to be. In your groups, have a small discussion about the skills that you want to improve for your future plans.
When your discussion is finished, take note of all the different skills you would need to work on to get where you want, and the skills that you already have!
Step 6: Personal Development Plan
Now that you have finished all your research, the final step is to prepare your personal development plan! Putting together all the work you have completed so far, develop your personal development plan keeping in mind the motivations that you set out in process 1.
Be sure to include your short-term and long-term goals, your SMART goals plan, as well as any skills improvement goals that you set in Process 5. The purpose of this plan is to set out all of your goals in an easy to read manner!
Using the template linked below, begin to create your personal development plan:
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Congratulations, you have now completed the WebQuest about task performance! In this WebQuest, you thought about where you would like to be in the future and how you are going to get there. You created some short-term goals, and some long-term goals, and collated them all into a personal development goal! Now that you are equipped with the ideal plan for your future, you are ready for taking the first step towards your future!
Responsibility is a fundamental value in the work environment, as it plays a key role in the development of a strong organizational culture and in the success of companies. Responsibility in the workplace means assuming the obligations and commitments of a job and being aware of the consequences of one's actions. In this session, we will explore the importance of responsibility in the work environment and how it influences individual and collective performance, work ethic and the achievement of organizational goals.
Working through group dynamics we will analyse the different roles of responsibility that exist in the group, whether they are explicit or implicit roles that have arisen in the day-to-day work.
These are short dynamics, but they will help us to analyse what responsibility means for each of the participants and what responsibilities they believe exist in the work or project they share.
We will start by defining responsibility:
Responsibility is fulfilling obligations and being careful when making decisions or doing something. Responsibility is also the fact of being responsible for someone or something.
The quality of being responsible means taking care of oneself and others, in response to the trust that people place in each other. When we are responsible, we are expressing a sense of community and commitment to others.
A responsible person fulfils his or her duties in a timely and efficient manner. For example, a person is responsible if he or she is punctual in his or her work, carries out the assigned tasks and objectives to the best of his or her ability.
Someone is also said to be responsible when he or she takes responsibility for the consequences of his or her actions. For example, when a person accidentally damages someone else's object and sets out to repair it or replace it with a new one.
1. The chain of responsibility
Form a circle with the team members and give each person a small object, such as a ball or rope. The first participant should take the object and share a job responsibility that he or she feels is important - it should be a responsibility specific to his or her workplace or job role. He or she then passes the object to the next team member, who must add another responsibility and so on. The aim is to create a chain of responsibility that highlights the importance of making and keeping commitments.
During the dynamic, a facilitator should take note of all the responsibilities that are said because once the chain is finished, they should organise the responsibilities among all of them in order of priority or importance.
This will serve to concretise expectations about the responsibilities.
2. The responsible case studies.
Divide the team into smaller groups and provide each group with a case study related to work situations where responsibility is required. It can be a hypothetical scenario, or one based on real experiences, if we manage to generate a case based on real experiences it will be more useful for reflection.
The groups should analyse the case, identify the responsibilities involved and propose responsible solutions to the proposed situation.
Then, each group presents its conclusions to the rest of the team and a constructive debate is generated about responsibility at work and the different solutions they have suggested.
Finally, as a large group, they will generate a global and unified solution to the situation.
3. The Responsibility Challenge
Organise a role-play in which team members act out different work situations in which responsible decision-making is required. It can be an improvisation exercise or a previously prepared scenario. Participants must act and make responsible decisions in the circumstances presented. At the end of each role-play, a group analysis of the actions taken is carried out and lessons learned about responsibility at work are discussed.
Situations can be:
- Meeting deadlines: Taking responsibility for completing a project within a given timeframe, ensuring that deadlines are met, and work is delivered in a timely manner.
- Task allocation: Taking responsibility for assigning appropriate tasks to team members, considering their skills and strengths, and ensuring that all roles are equally distributed.
- Use of resources: Make responsible decisions about the use of available resources on the job, such as materials, budget, and time, to avoid unnecessary waste and optimise their use.
- Effective communication: Be responsible for maintaining clear, open, and effective communication with co-workers, superiors and subordinates, ensuring that accurate information is conveyed and responding to queries and requests in a timely manner.
- Professional ethics: Facing ethical situations at work, such as moral dilemmas or conflicts of interest, and making responsible decisions based on ethical values and principles to ensure fair and ethical actions.
- Conflict management: Be responsible for dealing with workplace conflicts in a constructive and equitable manner, promoting peaceful resolution and collaboration between the parties involved.
- Safety and well-being: Take responsible action to ensure the safety and well-being of employees by implementing accident prevention measures, promoting a safe working environment, and following health and safety regulations.
- Strategic decision making: Take responsibility for making strategic decisions at work, considering the organisation's objectives, long-term impact and consequences for employees, customers, and other stakeholders.
4. "Responsibility wheel"
Create a large wheel on a piece of paper or poster board, dividing it into sections such as "Assigned tasks", "Meeting deadlines", "Communication", "Collaboration", etc.
Each team member writes his or her personal responsibilities on each section of the wheel. Then, as a group, they discuss and evaluate their level of responsibility in each area.
This allows strengths and areas for improvement in terms of individual and collective responsibility to be identified.
This analysis also allows us to analyse the repeated responsibilities among the members or participants and therefore gives us the opportunity to analyse how many people should have the same responsibility or who should have it individually.
Remember that these dynamics should be adapted to the needs and characteristics of your team. The main objective is to promote reflection, dialogue, and awareness of the importance of responsibility in the work environment.
If any uncomfortable situations or conflicts arise during the exercises, we recommend you review the WEBQUESTs that work on conflict resolution.
In conclusion, responsibility plays a fundamental role in the work environment and is key to individual and collective success at work. Responsibility involves making commitments, taking conscious decisions, and acting in an ethical and professional manner. By being accountable in our work tasks and responsibilities, we demonstrate reliability, meet deadlines, and contribute to the achievement of organisational goals.
Accountability is also essential to maintaining a harmonious and productive work environment. When team members are accountable, it fosters mutual trust, collaboration and transparency in working relationships. Accountability also promotes work efficiency and effectiveness by avoiding mistakes and taking proactive action to solve problems.
In addition, responsibility at work contributes to the professional and personal development of employees. By taking responsibility for our own growth and learning, we become more competent and acquire new skills. Responsibility also drives us to take initiatives, to seek opportunities for improvement and to be proactive in achieving our work objectives.
The European Commission’s support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. Project Number : 2019-1-PL01-KA204-065089