In my work, I need to coach a team who are underperforming and work complacently in the past 3 – 5 years. How can I motivate and change their ‘complacencies’?

No two brains are alike and it is well stated in the proverb, “One man’s meat and another’s poison”.  To coach a team, you will need to work on two parallels – the team and the individual.

• State and get consensus on the desired work ethics.
• Work with the team on an achievable short-term goal (over a period in months), both for the team and the individual.
• Work out an action plan, detailing the responsibility for each member
• Have weekly reviews both for the team as well as the individual
• Give positive feedback and suggestions (be encouraging in your language)
• Evaluate the results at the end of the period

Start the process again for continued improvements.  For a more successful outcome, the manager must be trained to have coaching conversations with their staff.  Getting the best performance out of staff is not a matter of skills training but rather applying the skills in the right context with the right attitude.  Without the latter, the most skillful staff will not bring you the results you want.

Everybody wants to be acknowledged and feel worthy.  By giving them their self respect, you will help to bring the best out of them.