How do you motivate your teammate when they're frustrated?

I've noticed that in very small startups, the constant highs and lows can be hard to handle for some people. They'll quickly get overly frustrated or demotivated when something goes wrong (and many things will go wrong in something as ambiguous as a startup). I think it helps to try to build a culture where we anticipate that things are going to go wrong and that what matters is how we handle issues, learn from them, and bounce back.

I make him coffee or tea, turn on some pleasant music and start a dialog on a distracted topic. In such moments it is important for a person to escape from current problems and feel that there is a wonderful world around him.

Listen, empathize, share your own experience when you're facing the same obstacle and offer a solution.

Well, imagine being a magician trying to turn a frog into a prince. Sometimes, my fellow product managers get a bit frustrated when their job doesn't exactly match the fairy tale they had in mind. I swoop in and remind them that even the most enchanting stories have a dose of reality. Just like how a frog needs a little more than a wand wave to become royalty, our job needs some practical tweaks too. I reassure them that I've got my 'improvement wand' ready, and together we'll transform our processes step by step, just like turning a froggy product management workflow into something princely! 🐸✨

Backing them up is the biggest support! Just trust them even if things don't go your way. Everyone makes mistakes, so we need to make them feel comfortable. I'm sure they'll be driven themselves when you blindly trust them. ps: This makes sense only when you know you've hired the right person and they're good at what they do

The first thing to do in any situation like this - hear the person out. what's causing the frustration? Is it the nature of the work, is it a situation at home, is it the colleagues who they are working with? Wanting to understand the person on the other side goes a long way to resolving the issue. Bringin an outside-in perspective on the nature of the problem by framing it is the start of how you go about helping.

Listen to them... find out the reasons and try to give them some direction. Sometimes just listening is enough

It all boils down to empathy and understanding. Getting to the root of the problem and helping nip it at the stem - whether it be you temporarily taking over some of the responsibilities to give them some time (if #1) or putting both of your egos aside and coming up with an improvement plan (if #2) Every business (and founder productivity) has ebbs and flows so it's important you put yourself in the shoes of your teammate.

Everybody got ups and downs, and I think it's the founder's responsibility to help teammates get back to their best selves and feel good about their work. Frustration, according to my experience, is the most common in 2 scenarios, (1) personal issues and (2) not achieving small successes for too long. How do you usually motivate your teammate, be it your co-founder or employee, when they feel frustrated?

This was a constant issue when I was in the military. What you don't want to do is ignore the issue, or pretend like things will get better or aren't as bad as they think. But instead acknowledge their frustration, and focus them on embracing the issue. Then you can build a plan to move forward. Not sure what the context is here, but generally this seems to be the best approach for these kind of things.

Folks here have already done a great job of covering scenarios in which only one teammate, i.e. not you, is frustrated. Being realistic, a teammate being frustrated could also mean that you’re frustrated too and find it hard to prioritise them and their feelings! It’s likely that that is the case if you’re early stage/not hitting goals, but can happen in a tonne of scenarios as we are all human. Personally, I find it best to take time out, a 5-minute walk or calling it a day early that day to reflect first, before jumping into emotional, unclear conversations. What I’ve learned is most important in my journey is giving processing of thoughts time and ensuring reactions are occur slowly and deliberately.

I listen, crack a lame joke and/or give my take on the problem - sometimes these two are the same - and help them move on.

Luckily, we live in a time of leaders and mentors [not bosses] who genuinely care about their team's well-being. Being empathetic and grasping the issues and frustrations from an employee's perspective is crucial in sidestepping biases. Providing all the necessary tools and resources for them to discover solutions while consistently standing by their side, of course!

I keep a positivity calendar filled with our roadmap successes as well as other stories or small steps towards victory so that we can revisit them when we are feeling down. For instance a successful pitch, a breakthrough in development, the genesis of an idea that made into the product as a feature, are all eligible for placement to the positivity calendar (calendar = a visual canvas with photos, videos and notes from the respective event).

I take the approach of listening to them, pairing on the problem and finally give them a day or two off.

I try to talk to him and discuss what is bothering him, but if the reason is too personal, then do not go into details.

Be together with them, no matter it's easy or difficult.

Give them time. Don’t give them lecture. Just tell them there mistake and leave the person alone and give them time to think by themselves. He will come to you by realising the mistake. Same for frustration

my first startup was w/ 2 friends that i had known for almost 20 years. the unfortunate thing is that motivation tends to stem from desperation / life circumstances. both could always go back to six figure salaries in an instant. i didn't have the same luxury so i was operating from a back against the wall scenario. its hard to motivate if they are friends or peers. if they are a hire - and they are not motivated. then they need to be fired right away. in the end, our 2 competitors had large exits and we all started around the same time. we had a breakeven exit. enough for me to leverage to build a name for myself in the startup world, but if we were all on the same page from day 1 - things could have turned out very differently.

listen deeply, without rushing to fix. sometimes, space speaks volumes. ask what they need, not what you assume. show up, even in silence. remember, storms pass; presence lasts. growth hides in the cracks of frustration. support their journey, not just the destination.