A sense of belonging to a group of co-workers is a better motivator for some employees than money，according to a study by University of lowa researchers. "We find that some self-managed teams show increased performance, when their members work together well," says Greg Stewart, the lead professor in the study.
At the beginning，Stewart's group studied how managers of self-managed teams decided payment. They studied 587 workers in 45 self-managed teams in Iowa. The members were allowed to give suggestions on how much their teammates should be paid for their work. The managers collected their ideas and then made decisions. The members were asked about how much their team spirit attracted them，and managers were asked about the productivity of both individuals and teams.
"In high functioning teams the group members work actively with each other, and they encourage and support each other, " says Stephen Courtright，member of the research group. The reason is that peer pressure acts as an important social force. Members don't want to disappoint their teammates，so team spirit is more effective even than money as a motivating tool. People have a social need to be accepted，to be regarded as a part of a group and want to perform well.
However, this works only when team members get along. When they don't, then self- managed teams perform badly. When team members don't care much for each other, Courtright says team spirit as a motivating factor won't work. So money becomes the main motivating factor to improve productivity.
The carrot and stick method is that managers offer team members things in order to persuade them to work and punish them if they refuse. "Teams perform better when there is pressure from peers to perform well than when managers wave a carrot and stick," Courtright says. "However, the carrot and stick method works well when team members just can't get along. "
