Whether you're a team leader with many people to manage, or a colleague who knows that one of your peers needs a bit of a lift, knowing how to motivate another person is key in having a happy, productive workplace.

The best way to start thinking about motivation is to first turn it around and think of DEmotivation. It's what makes us turn from productive, positive workers to procrastinating unenthused ones - and nobody wants to be like that way, or have a team member who suffers from this, too.

Demotivation is contagious. There's nothing like one person not pulling their weight to make the rest of the team think "why should I bother carrying the weight of their workload, too?"

What makes an employee demotivated? Before we start equating the words "demotivated" with "lazy", it's important to understand what could be causing lack of motivation: and it's not always the employee's fault.

For example, the person could be having a very difficult time at home, and thinking about this at work can lead to lack of concentration and focus. What might first appear to be lack of interest in the role may be another underlying cause such as stress, illness or even more serious conditions such as depression, which often cause someone to lose interest in others and their work.

If you think there is no serious underlying cause, and what they employee needs is a bit of motivation, then there are some steps you can take to increase it within your team. General malaise can happen if there is something looming: redundancies will always cause low staff morale, as will loss of bonuses, and the reduction of "fun" things like the Christmas party.

In today's economic climate, these will always be the first things to suffer from being axed as an unnecessary expense. Rather than get rid of them completely, try to change the way they are distributed. A staff party held in the building is cheaper than hiring a venue. Don't hand out bonuses to all staff regardless of performance - reward the outstanding achievers, which will motivate the others. Are there any perks you can get cheaply? If you have external suppliers, arrange a staff discount with them for your employees. Morale is closely linked to motivation, so make sure you try to keep this high within your team.

Beware the office "sourpuss": negativity can sap the motivation within individuals or a team. If you are constantly being told that you can't do something, that it's "too hard", or your boss is a horrible nightmare, you'll start believing it and become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Being around positive, upbeat people will rub off on you. Use others' motivation to spur on your own.

Motivation can also wane if someone feels like they have too much to do, that something is too difficult, or they don't have enough time to do it in. Encourage openness within your staff to tell you if they are having problems. Could you organise a time management course for them to attend? How about a discussion about delegation? If someone is struggling with a task and they find it an uphill battle, then they'll get demotivated. Training empowers and motivates people to do their job well and with enthusiasm - this comes from increased confidence of "knowing how to handle it".

Letting people know that their concerns will be heard and dealt with also adds to motivation. It also helps you to recognise when morale is lacking and what you can do about it - without spending a fortune on trying to appease the whole department. Simple praise and encouragement costs nothing and goes a long way. Try it now - and see who else you can motivate to do a better job.