"Thank Yous" Build Team Culture

Have been closely observing a few leaders driving peer recognition in their teams. The initiative is very simple, leaders create a platform for each team member to recognise other team members either for technical support, developing a part of an application, sharing functional expertise, sharing work load, simple ideas etc.

I have observed that as soon as one individual starts thanking others, it goes viral and the positivity in the team improves significantly. Some leaders also thank the "thankers" so that they can sustain the initiative for a long term impact.

Though it might have a jerky start with a bit of awkwardness, if leaders can sustain it, this can end up building team culture. Yes this provides instant gratification for individuals and this has a generational pull - how many “likes” did you get?

Some leaders are methodical, they plant a huge gratitude tree in the center of the workspace (Read cutout). Individuals can use post-its to appreciate each other and on a specific date and time, the whole team gathers together to harvest the "Thank Yous" and the ones who have been super supportive get acknowledged with a simple token of recognition.

Practitioners record that this promotes community feeling in the team and keeps the team together for the long haul. Yes, I hear you, this also can be implemented virtually in the COVID scenario - of course "Thank Yous" on a digital tree!

As shared by the practitioners, the wonderful benefits of the peer recognition or appreciation initiative both for the leader and the organization are as follows:

• Identify team members who are collaborative in nature - the number of "Thank Yous" they get is a great indicator
• Nurture a collaborative environment in the team. 
• Identify talent and potential in the team
• Identify individuals who are on the periphery and not diving into the team’s energy pool
• Good assessment of diverse skills available in the team
• Backup for those hyper critical project scenarios
• All-round development since team members are boundary spanning and learning
• Promotes retention since team members get to try new things
• Messes are ok while supporting others - better learning happens through mishaps in the informal space

Share more thoughts on peer recognition and what applications have you seen around this practice?