It is a well established fact that a well motivated team works better than a demotivated one. With this in mind you should always monitor the motivational status of your team, and act accordingly on any shortfalls. If your team is performing adequately but there is room for improvement, you might look at ways of motivating them to perform even better. If your team is performing inadequately, however, you must find the cause of their demotivation and deal with it.

It might seem rather obvious to state that money is the main factor that motivates us to do our jobs; after all it is why we go to work, but money itself might not be the reason for the motivation. It could be that some reward that comes from money earned, such as a holiday or a new car, is the real motivation. Certainly, when getting out of bed on a cold winter's morning, the thought of a payday at the end of the month would not stimulate as much motivation as the thought of two weeks in the sun abroad.

While external motivation such as this may stir your team members from their beds, once in the workplace they will need a fresh impetus that will motivate them above the level of simply going through the motions of their tasks. Not everyone is motivated in the same way and so, as with many aspects of management, communication with your team is important. Getting to know individual members of your team will enable you to discover what makes them tick. But there are also universal motivational techniques.

Motivation through cash incentives is out of the hands of the average manager, so other means must be sought, and one way to motivate your team is by boosting their confidence. You should ensure that every time a project is completed on time, or a particularly difficult task has been overcome, you let your team know how much you value their efforts.

Keeping your team informed on the progress of a project can also help you get the best out of them. If the project is running ahead of schedule or within budget, pass on the good news to those whose efforts have achieved that. People work better in a positive environment, so be sure to pass on any good news that affects your team.

It is important to look look for signals from your team that might help you ascertain how best to motivate them. It is equally important, that you look for the signs that the team, or individual members, are demotivated.

Demotivation manifests itself in several ways, such as a reduction in the quality of work, a failure to apply the required level of concentration to the job and an increase in absenteeism. But what causes demotivation?

Distaste for the job can erode motivation, whether it is the unpleasantness of the tasks themselves, the daunting size of the job or the weight of responsibility that comes with it.

Other demotivational factors might include a feeling of exclusion, of not being a valued contributor to the project, a lack of clear instructions as to the goals of the project, and poor pay or working conditions.

While some of these factors, such rates of pay, may be beyond the remit of the manager, there are some measures that can be taken to minimise the likelihood of demotivation. For example, if a job is so big it appears to those doing it that they will never get it finished, break it down into more manageable tasks. Be sure that you make it abundantly clear to your team exactly what the goals of the project are. And be sure to involve each team member in the project as much as possible.

By dealing with demotivation and encouraging motivation, you will get the very best out of your team. This in itself should be a source of motivation to the manager.