Catch people doing something wrong whenever you get the chance and make sure they know that their jobs are at risk all the time.ġ0. Make rules and policies a cornerstone of your management philosophy. Why should I kill myself when nobody notices or cares anyway?'ĩ. If you knew that no matter how much work you got done, you would always be behind in your work, would you try harder or adopt the attitude, 'I'm going to pay one more invoice and that's it for today. Overload your employees with crushing amounts of work so that they'll never have an idle moment. When people are cut off from the social interaction and daily problem-solving that makes a job fun and rewarding, they'll tune out and do the minimum.Ĩ. Make it hard for your team members to build relationships outside your department. When people can't get their manager's attention, they stop trying - and who can blame them? Anyone would give up trying to push a rock uphill eventually.ħ. Stay in your office with the door closed and ignore your employees' email and voice mail messages. Tell them what they can do better next time, instead.Ħ. When your team has a victory, don't mention it. Tell them, 'If you don't want this job, I'll find someone who does!'ĥ. Use punishment as a tool to get people to work harder. When people don't know where they stand, they can't blossom.Ĥ. Divide and conquer your team by playing favorites and switching up the list of favorites so that no one know whether they're doing a great job or on the verge of getting fired. How can people care about their work when they have no idea how their work supports the organization's goals?ģ. Don't give your teammates visibility into the department's or the company's plans. The best way to demotivate an employee is to treat him or her like a piece of production equipment, instead of a brilliant collaborator.Ģ. When you talk with your team members, talk to them about their targets but don't ask them how they're doing, what they need from you or how they'd like to prioritize their projects. Ten Easy Ways To Kill Your Team's Motivationġ. Sadly, these 10 management missteps happen every day.

Here are 10 easy ways for a thoughtless manager - or a whole thoughtless management team - to kill its team members' motivation.

Best way to kill yourself