Here are some ways to charge up your company’s passion for your project―and remember, it’s not what you do once a year, or once in a while―it’s what you do every day that counts. Among your team:

Acknowledge your team’s contributions every week - A weekly team meeting and report is an important tool in getting things done and keeping a project team on track. A smart project manager knows that a team meeting can be a valuable way to keep motivation high among team members by publicly recognizing their contributions in front of their peers. A weekly meeting checklist should wrap up by acknowledging a success, obstacle overcome, or new skill learned. Everyone, including the team leader, gets to take a bow.

Some people don’t feel comfortable taking credit for their achievements in public, yet they may feel slighted at a meeting with colleagues who have no such problem. Communication styles differ; teams can vote on how they want to take their bows―at a meeting, a lunch, or by email.

For really effective motivation, some groups pass out sticky notes and ask the team members to write their own accomplishment and an accomplishment they noticed in each of their fellow team members. (Using the same color pens protects the identity of the team members.) Collecting the notes, collating them by team member and reading them aloud is a morale boost unlike any other.

Be a good role model - Telling everyone to meet their deadlines but not meeting them yourself is a sure-fire way to de-motivate your staff. Model the behavior and results you want, from meeting deadlines and showing up on time to meetings to keeping commitments, being thorough and―in many ways most important―putting in extra time when needed.

Affirm your project’s value - Increased competition, economic uncertainty and cost-cutting are the triple whammy facing companies. Executives must re-examine every function and process in this new light. It’s a business imperative for managers to affirm their project’s value to senior management.

But what constitutes “value?” The easy answer is “more sales,” but some projects are not directly tied to sales. In fact, what is most valued in business may vary from company to company or even from year to year.

Typical values include cost savings, fewer returns, customer retention, decreased employee turnover, increased market share, rate of penetration into a new market, or a successful new product introduction, but other values can be tricky to measure, such as good will, or improved morale. However, the more concrete a manager can make the value of their projects, the better the odds that management can appreciate the project. Savvy managers will spend some time making the connection between their projects and the success of the company easily seen and understood.

Contribute to long-term strategy - What “value” is to a company in the short term, “strategy” is to a company long-term. A manager who focuses only on short term achievements is missing the big picture. If the connection is not obvious, there are a few questions that help clarify the relationship:

• Could this strategy be implemented without your project? If so, how could your project or some aspect of it advance this strategy?
• If your project is essential to the strategy, is there is an aspect of the project or its process than could be fine-tuned to advance the strategy faster, or more effectively? 
• Do project milestones (and how they are reported) reflect an understanding of the long-term strategic goals of the company?

In an already busy workday, it may be difficult to find the time to recharge everyone’s batteries about their projects, as team members or as sponsors. Consider it an investment. A team that is dealt with fairly and feels recognized will have better morale and produce better results. A project that supports the short term and long term goals of the company will always have the backing of the project sponsor and senior management. That’s a pretty good ROI in any economy.

Michelle LaBrosse is the founder Cheetah Learning and an international expert on accelerated learning and project management. In 2006, The Project Management Institute selected Michelle as one of the 25 Most Influential Women in project management in the World, and only one of two women selected from the training and education industry.