By Hilary Salazar, Associate Product Marketing Manager/Community Manager

Man am I glad you’re here. I think we’re all relieved to have the fresh start, clean-slate feeling that a new year like yourself brings. He was a tough one, that 2008, but I think we came out on top and proved just how resilient we can be. 2008 brought us financial turmoil, tighter budgets, apprehension about what was ahead for the markets, doing more with less, but at the same time instilled us with more razor-sharp focus, renewed creativity to deal with new challenges, and the drive to survive. It’s in the toughest of times that our fight instincts emerge, and this business environment is surely one of those times.

2009 is here and with it change is a-comin’—no matter what your political, economic, or professional views. While it’s nearly mid-February and yes this is the first HappyFactors post of 2009 (I know, I know!), I would like to nonetheless offer up the following insights on how to keep plugging away this year, no matter what changes come our way in the world of work.

Ways to keep you—and your team—motivated (dare I say happy?…) in tough times:

Deflect the negative. In difficult times—nay, at any time—you will always find people around you that focus on the negative and like to share their downbeat messages to anyone willing to listen. Take their messages with a grain of salt, don’t let them cloud the image you have of your company with biased opinion, and stay grounded in your own professional goals. Easier said then done, I know, but at the very least be mindful of the negative nancy’s around you.

Don’t pull back on communication with your team. Even if it’s news of scary things to come or uncertainty for your team, more communication is always better than leaving your team in the dark. Continue to include them on relevant team meetings, brainstorming sessions, quarterly planning, updates after management meetings, impromptu weekly updates, you name it. You’ll earn (and keep) their trust, and help to prevent your top talent from a frenzied job search out of fear that their position may not exist come next quarter.

Manage expectations appropriately. Echoing the point above, manage the expectations of your team in the best ways that you can. When performance review time comes around this year, be sure that you’re rewarding them for the work their doing amidst difficult circumstances, and make sure that they know that they have a career path within the company (if this is the case) and are highly valued. If someone’s professional goals aren’t matching up with the opportunities available in your organization, communicate this appropriately and help them to map out the best path for them to excel professionally.

This is a chance to excel professionally in brave new ways. If you can prove your worth in tough times, your value is recognized ten-fold within your organization. This is your chance to truly make an impact at your company (and in your career), to prove that you can do more with less, to exhibit innovative ways to bring in more revenue, to shake up the status quo and do things differently to dramatically rewarding results. Don’t use these uncertain times to safely stand on the sidelines and continue doing things they way they’ve always been done.

Take ownership of your professional roadmap. Who ultimately determines your level of motivation (and happiness)? YOU. Own it. Tap into what gets you excited at work, what gets you up in the morning, what brought you to your organization originally, what drives you to perform, and align that with the work you’re doing each day. If what motivates you and the day-to-day of what you do at work are completely unaligned, I can guarantee that 2009 will be an even tougher year.

Have more suggestions for staying motivated? Share them here on HappyFactors! We’d love to hear from you.