The Progress Checklist: Leveraging Small Wins for Team Motivation
The insights from “The Progress Principle” by Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer offer a profound understanding of what truly motivates teams in the workplace. Through the innovative use of daily diaries collected from knowledge workers across seven companies, the authors discovered a critical motivator that many managers overlook: support for progress. Unlike mere recognition, which praises past accomplishments, progress focuses on the forward momentum in meaningful work. Even small wins can energize and motivate your team tremendously.
Managers striving to elevate team performance can integrate a structured Progress Checklist into their leadership practices. This tool facilitates reflection on daily achievements and setbacks, streamlining the path to continuous improvement and engagement. Below is a guided approach to utilizing the checklist, enhanced with the principles from the K-A-S-H method:
Progress | Setbacks |
| Which 1 or 2 events today indicated either a small win or a possible breakthrough? (Describe briefly.) | Which 1 or 2 events today indicated either a small setback or a possible crisis? (Describe briefly.) |
Catalysts | Inhibitors |
| Did the team have clear short- and long-term goals for meaningful work? | Was there any confusion regarding long- or short-term goals for meaningful work? |
| Did team members have sufficient autonomy to solve problems and take ownership of the project? | Were team members overly constrained in their ability to solve problems and feel ownership of the project? |
| Did they have all the resources they needed to move forward efficiently? | Did they lack any of the resources they needed to move forward effectively? |
| Did they have sufficient time to focus on meaningful work? | Did they lack sufficient time to focus on meaningful work? |
| Did I give or get them help when they needed or requested it? Did I encourage team members to help one another? | Did I or others fail to provide needed or requested help? |
| Did I discuss lessons from today’s successes and problems with my team? | Did I “punish” failure, or neglect to find lessons and/or opportunities in problems and successes? |
| Did I help ideas flow freely within the group? | Did I or others cut off the presentation or debate of ideas prematurely? |
| Nourishers | Toxins |
| Did I show respect to team members by recognizing their contributions to progress, attending to their ideas and treating them as trusted professionals? | Did I disrespect any team members by failing to recognize their contributions to progress, not attending to their ideas or not treating them as trusted professionals? |
| Did I encourage team members who faced difficult challenges? | Did I discourage a member of the team in any way? |
| Did I support team members who had a personal or professional problem? | Did I neglect a team member who had a personal or professional problem? |
| Is there a sense of personal and professional affiliation and camaraderie within the team? | Is there tension or antagonism among members of the team or between team members and me? |
Source: T. Amabile & S. Kramer, The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work (Harvard Business Press, 2011)
Progress and Setbacks
- Identify one or two events today that represent either a small win or a potential breakthrough. Briefly describe the nature of these events.
- Similarly, note any events that indicate a minor setback or looming crisis. Capture these insights concisely.
Catalysts vs. Inhibitors
- Goals: Evaluate whether your team had clear short- and long-term goals for achieving meaningful work. Conversely, identify if any confusion existed regarding these objectives.
- Autonomy: Reflect on the degree of autonomy provided to team members for problem-solving and project ownership. Was this empowering or restrictive?
- Resources: Determine if your team had all necessary resources to progress efficiently. Pinpoint any resource deficiencies that may have hindered their efforts.
- Time: Consider whether team members had adequate time to concentrate on meaningful work, and where time constraints might have limited productivity.
- Support: Assess if you offered help when needed and encouraged team collaboration. Identify instances when necessary support was lacking.
- Learning: Analyze your response to successes and challenges. Did you engage in constructive discussions to extract lessons, or did you overlook these opportunities?
- Idea Flow: Examine if your team freely exchanged ideas or if discussions were prematurely halted or disregarded.
Nourishers vs. Toxins
- Respect: Reflect on how you acknowledged team member contributions, listened to their ideas, and treated them as trusted professionals. Were any actions perceived as disrespectful?
- Encouragement: Review your encouragement levels for team members facing obstacles. Note if any discouragement or neglect occurred.
- Support: Evaluate your support for team members experiencing personal or professional issues. Identify any oversight in addressing these concerns.
- Team Dynamics: Assess the sense of camaraderie and affiliation within the team. Tag any signs of tension or antagonism, whether between team members or involving yourself.
Leveraging the K-A-S-H method—focusing on Knowledge, Skills, Attitude, and Habits—can significantly enhance your use of the Progress Checklist. By embedding this tool into daily management practices, you can foster an environment where small wins lead to big achievements, ultimately resulting in a more motivated, creative, and engaged workforce.
Creator of the KASHBOX: Knowledge, Attitude, Skills, Habits
Helping You Realize Your Potential
I help people discover their potential, expand and develop the skills and attitudes necessary to achieve a higher degree of personal and professional success and create a plan that enables them to balance the profit motives of their business with the personal motives of their lives.
