Management 605 – Managing in Organizations – Week 2

Week 2 – Motivation

Understanding motivation is difficult, and this evidenced by the many theories of motivation out there. We talked about the baseline motivation model – Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs – and how most other motivation frameworks fall within that pyramid in some fashion. We then broke the theories down into three sectors which were Content (needs), Process (choice), and Reinforcement (consequences). There were many models we reviewed, and I believe Expectancy Theory – that the rewards are worth the effort – is an important one. I think a lot of people in organizations think that way. There is an important of setting clear expectations and being equitable with your team.

There were some interesting side videos we watched that showed how social incentives and progress monitoring are important motivations for the self. Another one dealt with extrinsic and intrinsic motivations play a role in motivating ourselves as well. I am finding a lot of management starts with managing yourself properly.