Why do the simplest things seem so hard sometimes? The way to improve morale (translation: Make folks more eager to come to work and do a good job) is to ask your staff what they need in order to work more effectively. This is not asking, "What do you need in your life?" or "Who drives you up a wall?" or "How can we make you glad to be alive?" Rather, it's asking, "What tools, resources, clearer communications and expectations, rewards and workplace norms do you need that you are not getting now? How can we help you fulfill your part of this bargain to be effective, efficient, optimistic and a good team player?"

Managers can do this on their own or get some help with the task. If you ask these questions yourself, the advantage is that you don't have to involve anybody else and risk having your office laundry hung out to dry. The disadvantage is you'll seldom get the whole truth that way.

Having a trusted colleague or external consultant ask these questions and prepare a summary for you will make the exercise much safer for your folks. They should do this without attribution -- that is, get you the information you need, but strip the comments of any identifiable content. This way, your staff will be more willing to give you really useful information.

People will be shocked that you're willing to hear both good and bad news, and even more surprised when you set out to do something about the suggestions they've made. That shock will turn into greater commitment to the job, a renewed interest in working together, more willingness to collaborate, and greater permission to be honest with you and each other. Now, if that isn't the definition of high morale, I don't know what is.