No matter how large or small your company, having a team of motivated, engaged and hard-working team members is crucial to your business success.  When employees are not motivated, their job performance suffers-they become less productive and valuable to the organization.  You pay a heavy price when team members have motivation issues.

You need to learn how to light a fire under team members who have lost their motivation, whether a former hard worker whose performance has declined over the years, or a long-term problem employee who has failed to improve.  This article will teach you what you need to know to light that fire.

The first thing to realize is that motivation means different things to different people.  As a team leader it's very important that you learn and observe what inspires and motivates each of your employees.  For one, it may mean a day off with pay, for another it could be given more responsibility, and for others, being involved in decision making.

According to recent studies on motivation, there are a number of things that are universally effective, including:

• Providing reward and recognition for a job well done-it has been shown that even small rewards given often, and right after the performance, had the most impact on motivating employees. When providing positive feedback, remember to let the employee know specifically what you are give feedback about and let him or her know how you feel about it. Example: "Joe, you did an excellent job of stacking the new materials on our shelves. I really appreciate the work you did on that-it helps us to accomplish our goals faster."
• Lead by example-so your team will know what is expected of them. If you expect them to show up for work on time, then you'll need to be on time. If you want them to have a favorable attitude, then your attitude will need to be positive.
• Keep communication open and honest-team members who are kept in the loop are more likely to be motivated. So be sure to tell your employees that you have an "open door" policy and be sure that you keep the door open. It's important that your team feels like they can communicate with you about whatever is on their mind.
• Provide your team with training-your team will feel valued and important when you spend time and money to provide them with skill knowledge and training.
• Ask for their opinion-if you will ask your team members for their opinion, or get their input when making an important decision, it will surprise you how motivated they will become.
• Have some fun-it's okay to have some fun at work. You might even consider having some sort of competitive game or competition as that can liven things up and motivate people to get involved in their work.
• Give your team a choicein how they do their work-if possible, give you team a chance to tell you how they think their jobs can be performed. You may be surprised at how much that will stimulate them to work harder.
• Avoid harsh criticism when correcting mistakes. Although this will be discussed in a later chapter, be sure that you don't come down too hard on your team members when a mistake is made. Rather than using "constructive criticism," try using "positive direction." Positive direction means you point out the error and then explain how it might be corrected so not to happen again-in a positive way.
• Provide lots of encouragement on a daily basis-this is related to the first point, but is important enough to repeat. More than anything else, encouraging and recognizing your team members will make them feel valued and motivated.

Probably one of the best ways to find out what motivates your team members is to ASK them.  You can do this in an informal way.  During a meeting, ask team members what motivates them to work hard or what motivated them in their last job.   Then listen.  Once you know a person's primary motivators, you can work to make sure you provide them at appropriate times.

If you'll make a point to practice some of the suggestions in this article, you'll light a fire under your team and prevent productivity from being killed.