the things I always found the most demotivational could be summed up in just two bullet points:[list][*]A lack of clear direction. The management may have an idea where the project is going but this is not being communicated to us little pawns. This leads to micromanagement: they tell you to do X, without telling you how it fits in the big picture or even who works on Y that directly interacts with your X. The impression is that even the management has no idea where they are going.