Managers can increase motivation and foster flow. Flow is a state of feeling completely involved and focused on a task. Keeping employees intellectually engaged, removing distractions, encouraging creativity and flexibility, and supporting employees in all aspects of their lives builds motivation.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs describes motivation as a response to a progressive set of needs for physiology, safety, belonging, esteem, and self-actualization.

McClelland’s three needs theory states the main motivators are the need for achievement, affiliation, and power.

Herzberg broke the idea of motivation into two categories: hygiene factors and motivators.

Extrinsic motivators are factors external to the employee, such as pay or promotions, which improve their engagement at work.

Intrinsic motivators are internal factors inside of a person that come from his or her actual interest in the work or from a sense of purpose and value in the work being done.

Theory X states that humans inherently dislike work and will try to avoid it if they can. As a result, managers should adopt a hard-line, authoritarian style.

Theory Y proposes that people view work as natural and will be motivated to work as long as they are satisfied with their jobs. Thus, managers should implement a softer style that involves ample employee participation.

Theory Z suggests that workers want to cooperate and be loyal to an organization and emphasizes collaborative decision making.

The Vroom model (expectancy theory) states that an ­individual’s motivation can be described by the relationship between three factors: expectancy, instrumentality, and valence.

Industrial psychology is a field of academic study developed to scientifically understand how to optimally manage people and work.

A 1932 study by Elton May concluded that when workers feel important, productivity increases. This is called the Hawthorne effect. After World War II, research ­began to focus on the management of entire organizations rather than individual workers.

Studies that have shown that today’s workers value autonomy, mastery, and purpose at least as much or as more as they do economic rewards. Studies of people engaged in creative work show they are often demotivated by traditional financial incentives and highly ­motivated by offers of autonomy, mastery, and purpose.

Leaders may exhibit a democratic, autocratic, affiliative (laissez-faire), or visionary style. Many top executives demonstrate one or more of these styles.

Certain traits are common among effective leaders. They challenge conventional beliefs, inspire a shared vision, model by example, use emotional intelligence, and enable others to perform to their fullest potential.

Teams can benefit the workplace by encouraging collaboration, which can lead to greater innovation and the speed with which organizations are able to respond to changes in the marketplace.

Effective teams must be designed and managed thoughtfully. Today’s workplace includes employees from three or more generations, and it takes care and insight to make them mesh well on a single team.

Group flow is achieved when a group knows how to work together so that each individual member can achieve flow. Best practices for creating strong teams include considering the size, the life span, and the status of the team.

R. M. Belbin outlined a model of nine team roles. An effective team requires a variety of roles, and the members must be matched carefully to the team needs.

E-mail, videoconferencing, webcasts, wikis, and other technology allow for virtual teams in which members are in different locations around the country or the world. However, most virtual teams meet face-to-face periodically.

Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits model can help employees enhance their success as members of a team.