Management motivation training games and/or exercises is a broad concept. It encompasses principles of employee and management team-building, creativity, problem-solving, decision-making and communication. Employees are motivated to perform to optimal levels if the workplace environment and culture are feasible. In other words, motivation depends on organizational environment.
The Problem-solving Game
Organize your department or managerial-level employees into four to five teams of six people or less. Give each team a scenario involving a problem. The scenario selection is at the discretion of the trainer. The aim is to involve the employees, and make them trust and communicate with each other freely. The problem should represent a dilemma and obstacles. It should invite the teams to brainstorm ideas to solve the problem.
No solution should go unheard. Each team must jot down all ideas and discuss the feasibility of each suggestion. The solutions should be novel and creative. Employees should be encouraged to think outside of the box. Set a time limit forcing employees to engage in creative thinking under pressure. As a trainer, you must recreate and duplicate actual time tension experienced by an employee on an actual work day when faced with a problem.
The game forces teams to engage in competition and rivalry only to attain the best feasible problem solution. During play, employees have to realize that motivation helps them advocate solutions for optimal organizational performance.
Before start of play, every employee is given a headset enabling the trainer to directly speak to the employee. This enables private instruction and feedback avoiding public rebuke. Employee motivation and performance decreases when he or she is criticized publicly. You must deliver all feedback, positive and negative, in a constructive fashion. This means that even negative feedback must be recognized as a way of improvement. Employees must be lauded for thinking and guided onto the path of improvement. Always say "Thank you–your idea is good and needs improvement" or "Why don’t you work with employee A with your idea?"
You have to reward positive brainstorming. Know your employees. In other words, know what is important to them. Maybe public appreciation is motivation for Employee A, but a holiday or private appreciation by top management is important. Every employee has a different motivation trigger. You have to realize that.
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