We've a great initiative at our company where people can nominate someone else for an award. When nominating they need to write a short reason why they've nominated the other person. We have quarterly meetings where we all go up into London for an awards hand-out and update on the company financials etc.
That's such a lovely way of encouraging people to engage with gratitude. A treat for everyone, and a special moment for those appreciated by their colleagues. :)
I agree, appreciation is vital to our well-being as humans. We need it almost like we need air. Still, I don't like public thank-yous/appreciation in a facilitated environment. I have witnessed cases where not everyone on the team (or in the workshop) is thanked, thus creating disparity and hurt. I agree we should encourage a culture of appreciation, but let this be a private interaction (like the one you describe, where your colleague went on to tell you a personal secret) not a public declaration. In short I'd be very wary of doing personal appreciations in a facilitated retrospective, unless the culture of appreciation already existed within the team. If not, there are other ways to nurture this outside group meetings—or to encourage team-wide appreciation, i.e. "Today I appreciate this team for..."
Yes, I have seen moments as you describe where one or two haven't been thanked. I understand your concerns; I haven't seen it play out that way though. Or perhaps it has and I haven't been aware.
I wonder how a culture of public gratitude can be nurtured if we don't start in what should be the safest of spaces, the facilitated retro?
I love this. I started keeping a gratitude journal in May of 2020. Just a line or two a day. It has had an incredible impact.
We need more, more, MORE of honest, reflective, gratitude.
And I feel strongly that it needs to be out in the open. Everyone should see and hear it. Over time, it will spread.
I've just bought my three year olds their first gratitude journals. We'll see how it goes...
We've a great initiative at our company where people can nominate someone else for an award. When nominating they need to write a short reason why they've nominated the other person. We have quarterly meetings where we all go up into London for an awards hand-out and update on the company financials etc.
That's such a lovely way of encouraging people to engage with gratitude. A treat for everyone, and a special moment for those appreciated by their colleagues. :)
I was the recipient of one last year and six of us went out for a meal one evening and stayed up in London. Really nice :-)
I agree, appreciation is vital to our well-being as humans. We need it almost like we need air. Still, I don't like public thank-yous/appreciation in a facilitated environment. I have witnessed cases where not everyone on the team (or in the workshop) is thanked, thus creating disparity and hurt. I agree we should encourage a culture of appreciation, but let this be a private interaction (like the one you describe, where your colleague went on to tell you a personal secret) not a public declaration. In short I'd be very wary of doing personal appreciations in a facilitated retrospective, unless the culture of appreciation already existed within the team. If not, there are other ways to nurture this outside group meetings—or to encourage team-wide appreciation, i.e. "Today I appreciate this team for..."
Yes, I have seen moments as you describe where one or two haven't been thanked. I understand your concerns; I haven't seen it play out that way though. Or perhaps it has and I haven't been aware.
I wonder how a culture of public gratitude can be nurtured if we don't start in what should be the safest of spaces, the facilitated retro?
Maybe we start by modelling it. We say thank you :)