IN every office setting I have worked in, I realized it was not common for people to acknowledge, or even compliment someone on how well they did at work. This might be the effect of a competitive environment, or due to people not becoming accustomed to appreciating others’ work because they themselves were not appreciated by their manager. It could also be the result of a harsh working environment because of the nature of their industry, or a lack of opportunity for people to socialize and get to know one another.
When you are managing a team, part of your toolkit in helping your team perform at their peak should be knowing how to encourage them, and for you to find ways to make them feel appreciated for their contribution to the team’s growth.
Appreciating your team’s work helps increase their morale, which invariably leads to increased engagement and productivity. The more they feel appreciated as part of the team, the more they will continue to perform well and find new ways to improve their work output. Appreciating your team’s efforts and contributions to the team’s success helps them understand that they are doing well, and what kinds of results and behaviors contribute to the overall success of the team.
As a people manager, any appreciation coming from you will boost your team’s morale. But for them to truly feel that the appreciation is genuine and authentic, you need to take the time to get to know them, especially the new team members. Knowing your team members a little better will help you know what motivates them individually, and will help you identify what you can do to keep them appreciated and motivated to do their work. It will also help you evaluate their strengths so you can assign them to projects where they will thrive.
One of the best ways you can get to know your team is to get them out of the office environment so they can let their hair down.
Team building activities and games help you understand how they deal with pressure, disappointments, and how well they work with others. This will also help you find underlying issues and concerns with team members which you can address during the team-building session, or help you develop long-term action plans if needed.
Even without a team-building activity, time spent with each of your team members is already encouraging because you are indirectly telling them that they are important enough that you spend time with them. If you do not have a quarterly or semestral catch-up session with each of your team members, you can still catch-up by chatting with them occasionally while getting a cup of coffee, or when you get water from the dispenser. While these may be short interactions, these are enough to make your team feel appreciated because you took the time to ask them.
Team meetings are good opportunities to acknowledge what individual team members have contributed to the overall success of the team, and is a great way to appreciate what your team has done as a group. But in your appreciation of each team member, you need to be very specific on what they did well so they can sustain the quality of their work or retain the beneficial behavior. Outside of those meetings, praise your team publicly and always catch them doing good. You should also discourage behaviors that undermine other people’s work, and develop behaviors that promote a culture of appreciating others’ work.
One thing that people managers need to do is to pass on encouraging words about your team members. Your team does not have access to other managers except when they work with them. I remember talking to one of my team members and telling her a comment from a manager on how good she was as a facilitator. She told me it was one of the most difficult groups she has handled because they had so many questions. I told her that maybe that was the reason she made quite an impression because she handled the participants well. It gave her the motivation to accept more facilitation assignments and pushed her to find ways to improve her skills.
Similarly, find ways to show appreciation for your team. Remember that while words of appreciation go a long way in showing appreciation, saying “Good job” is no longer going to cut it especially if you always tell it to them, or use it in conjunction with “thank you.” Spending time with your team can help you discover what they appreciate as a reward to show your appreciation. Or, you can directly ask your team how they would like to be appreciated. For some people, a team lunch-out can already make a team feel truly appreciated. For others, they may want to have more training opportunities, a flexible work schedule, or additional monetary incentives.
Also, do not feel obliged to be the only one appreciating the team. Encourage teamwork so people can connect with others in the team with the same interests. This will help foster good working relationships, and help you create an environment where people are more likely to appreciate the work done by others. When we had a mini team-building session last month, we realized that we shared similarities which were not as obvious when we first met. It helped us start conversations and discover what will encourage each other.
Lastly, be the example of how you want others to be. If you want to develop a culture of appreciation, set the standard by doing it yourself. Catch people doing good and publicly announce your team’s successes. When presenting outside your team, do not take credit for your team’s work; instead, mention the names of everyone who helped contribute to the project. By promoting your team to others, you also influence the other managers to find ways to appreciate their team more. And who knows, your example might just be the spark in igniting a culture of appreciation for your organization.
Image credits: Usen Parmanov on Unsplash