15 Ways to Demoralize and Demolish Your Team

1. Be unpredictable. Unpredictability breeds confusion and insecurity in people. 
2. Change responsibilities at random. Not being clear on what you required them to do to perform their job is like applying a powerful brake to productivity. 
3. Make the work environment uncomfortable - windows are overrated, screaming is good. Discomfort in the work environment is a surefire way to make your team lose any desire to do their jobs. 
4. Give instructions and then change them after some time. Make your team members feel that they are idiots for doing what they believe they were told earlier. 
5. Do not communicate the stakeholders' wishes to the team and, later, berate the team members for not divining and producing desired results. 
6. Play favorites. There is nothing like knowing that the boss likes some more than others, especially if the feeling is based on personality more than on knowledge and competence. 
7. Ignore your team members. Ignoring people can be infuriating and disempowering at the same time. 
8. Make people responsible for something but then withhold their power to demand inputs from other team members. You’ll be able to claim incompetence when they find themselves unable to comply with your instructions. 
9. Be stingy with praise. Praise is a valuable commodity; do not waste it on everybody. 
10. Praise someone but then criticize them behind their backs to others. This way people will know that if you praise them you will be plunging your knife in their backs as soon as they turn away. 
11. Earn their fear, not their respect. Fear is one of the greatest demotivators that exist. 
12. Show emotional outbursts and don't follow through on your pronouncements. 
13. Schedule maintenance work on their equipment just when they need it most. 
14. Make sure to let them know that their works are worthless pieces of junk and that their knowledge counts for nothing when compared to your years of vast experience in the industry. 
15. Put a lock on your door - you do not need to talk to all the riffraff working under you. 

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