It's the end of March and how is your team doing? Did your group get off to a strong start for 2011? If not, it's not too late. As a leader, focus on motivating the team to ensure that staff are determined to give their best throughout the rest of the year and beyond. Three ideas to help get you started can include:

•    Spelling out the vision for your team and recognize and celebrate what has been achieved this past year.

•    Having lunch with each of your direct reports to listen their hopes, dreams and goals.

•    Developing yourselves as a group and spend time finding out what makes each of you tick. Outside team-building activities are also perfect for this.

If only more employers would spend time actually working with their employees, encouraging innovation, and considering their contributions to the company; then motivation and job satisfaction will remain high. And surely any organisation’s most valuable resource is its staff.