I never know whether to smile or cringe when I come across a piece of software designed to replace face to face conversation. But, in a world where organisations are so large that people can easily feel disconnected from the company’s core mission and where people communicate mainly through technology (and let’s face it, I AM running Virtual not Distant), it’s time to embrace those tools that make it easy for us to build a culture of feedback and appreciation.
Plenty of thought has gone into building these programmes and tools, so why not take a look at the principles behind some of them, and then design our own way of showing appreciation in our team?
I have to admit that I haven’t used any of these tools myself so I can’t endorse them – but the culture they are trying to build is certainly worth a look.
I’ve picked these three platforms because they all focus on slightly different aspects of providing feedback and ensuring that people feel appreciated. In some cases the software has been designed to operate at an organisational level, but I think there is a lot that we can transfer to our team.
Within this software, employees award each other points for a specific contribution to the team (through their tasks, mindset, behaviour, etc). These points are then turned into tangible rewards that actually matter to the employee – that is, you can turn your points into gift cards, donations, mentoring etc.
(For a similar way of rewarding team members, check out how Happy Melly One uses Merit Money.)
These are some of the practices that You Earned It uses:
Real-time Recognition
Give praise and recognition soon after the fact – a little bit like Pavlov’s dogs: if we want to encourage certain types of behaviours, we need to build the association between behaviour and reward fast.
Rewards that Matter
People like to be rewarded in different ways. Some people respond well to bonuses and money; other people are happy with a sincere “thank you”; some people feel incredibly valued when they receive a card through the post. At a team level, it’s worth finding out (either through conversation or observation) what people value and adapt the way in which we thank them accordingly.
Rewards reflect Values
Values are important in a team. They guide our behaviour both internally and with those outside our team. What we reward in the workplace should reflect the values that drive our work. If we reward a sarcastic comment in a meeting with a smile, we’ll breed sarcasm. If we reward an overnight stint fixing a problem with a day off, we’ll encourage people wanting to go the extra mile without burning out.
Limited Rewards
The fact that employees only have a limited number of points to give out to colleagues means that you need to give some thought as to what you reward in others and when. And of course, receiving something which is in limited supply, always increases its value. (Think “art piece”, not Facebook “like”.)
15Five is slightly different. Every week employees are asked to spend 15 minutes answering a set of questions about their work and process. Managers then take five minutes to read the feedback and reply. (For a similar platform, listen to the episode of the 21st Century Work Life podcast with Laura from TinyPulse.)
Where I think 15Five excels in helping employees feel appreciated is that every week they are asked questions that will help improve the organisation. When we talk about rewarding employees and showing appreciation, rarely do we talk about showing we valuing them by asking them to improve the workplace. (See my previous rant in A is for Appreciation) In addition to this, here are other concepts we can incorporate into how we show appreciation.
Feedback takes 5 minutes to Read
If you’re giving written feedback, keep it straight and to the point. That’s all.
Feedback is Regular and Gets a Reply
And the emphasis is on the feedback going up the organisational hierarchy, which is still unusual. Feedback does not mean “annual review”.
There is Room for Conversation
Employee gives feedback to manager. Manager replies. Employee replies and suggests action. Feedback should always be a conversation. It’s not just about knowing what we’re doing well and not so well, it’s about exchanging information that will lead to improvement.
The Kudo Box and Kudo Cards have been made popular through Management 3.0 practice. A Kudo card is just: “a written and public recognition of a colleague for something he or she has contributed to the team.” When you have completed your card, you put it in a Kudo Box, which should be visible in the organisation as a symbol of “we show that we care”.
The Kudo Box has now been turned into an online tool, which can be used in virtual teams and in social media.
The concepts behind the Kudo Cards are simple, just like the execution.
Reward Continuously, not just once a year.
We shouldn’t wait for our annual appraisal (if we still have one) or annual team-away day to be thanked for our contribution. Enough said from my end but you can read more on why Accenture and Deloitte are saying good-bye to annual performance reviews.
Reward Publicly
Rewarding and praising people in public is not just about showing our appreciation, it’s also a way of reminding the rest of the team (or organisation) that we share values and appreciate helpful behaviour. It’s a way of strengthening team identity.
Reward Behaviour, not Outcomes
If we focus on rewarding outcomes, we’ll never reward people when they’re being creative, when they’re trying to innovate, when they’re willing to change. Creativity, innovation and change all involve experimentation, which, yes, sometimes fails.
If we only reward outcomes, we’ll encourage behaviour that comes with guaranteed success – and that is a sure way to stilt our growth and send our company to its grave.
(For a broader view on how the language we use when rewarding affects motivation, listen to the episode of Health Check on The Psychology of Praise aired on 24 Sept 2015 BBC WorldWide. )
Reward Peers, not Subordinates
If you want to build a truly collaborative team, where people go the extra mile for the team, not just for you, then encourage people to reward each other by setting up an easy to use process. (For more on the role of peers in employee engagement, listen to this podcast.)
What All This Means for Virtual Teams
In the collocated space, feedback and appreciation often come in the form of spontaneous actions. A smile, a conversation in the lift, an genuine “thank you” after someone just spent 10 minutes helping you how to use a new app.
In the virtual space, or in those teams where we spend most of our time glued to a screen, we need to set up processes to remind us to thank each other and reward helpful behaviour. We don’t need to adopt fancy software to do it (although sometimes this might be a good way of showing we value the practice and are willing to invest in it). Sometimes adopting just one concept of all the ones outlined above might be enough. Adopting it and making it an integral and regular part of our team process.
(For more on Appreciation, read Appreciation is not just a Two-Letter Word or listen to the podcast on Appreciation from the Virtual not Distant series.)
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