July 24, 2019
Article
Harvard Business Review (website)

How to Make Even the Most Mundane Tasks More Motivating

By: Jaewon Yoon, A.V. Whillans and Ed O'Brien

Format:Electronic

Abstract

Managers constantly encourage employees to think about why they do the work they do in order to give them a sense of purpose and fight against demotivation. But our latest research—with nearly 4,000 working adults in the U.S.—suggests that this hyperfocus on purpose can backfire. Constantly hearing messages about making an impact actually risks leading employees to ruminate about their work’s lack of impact. Building on Gestalt principles in psychology, we offer a solution: thinking about how seemingly unimportant work belongs to a set of tasks contributing to a broader goal (i.e., superordinate framing) could help employees see their true value.

Keywords

Employees; Motivation and Incentives; Goals and Objectives; Perspective

Citation

Yoon, Jaewon, A.V. Whillans, and Ed O'Brien. "How to Make Even the Most Mundane Tasks More Motivating." Harvard Business Review (website) (July 24, 2019).