I want to recognize your work!
Maybe I’ll write an email… Make a speech… Or arrange a lunch? Perhaps send a gift?!
This is getting complicated!
Recognition to a broad team can require a wide range of efforts
A building project is a multi-year, massive group endeavour. When it’s accomplished, the recognition effort needs to be broad. It needs enough aspects so that each individual will resonate with at least one version of appreciation.
Our team would do a lot of things so the client could truly soak in the moment.
Our efforts generally aligned with Gary Chapman’s Five Love Languages (also known as Languages of Appreciation.) We arranged for:
- Gifts: like commemorative framed photos
- Quality time: like a celebration dinner for swapping stories
- Words of affirmation: like a ribbon cutting ceremony with formal speeches
- Touch: like giving lots of high fives and handshakes
- Acts of service: like a playground build day
Personally receiving five kinds of recognition is amazing!
Similarly, at a personal level, I recall when I got a job promotion:
- [Gifts] There were balloons
- [Quality time] There were lunches
- [Words of affirmation] There were congratulation notes and cards
- [Touch] There were lots of literal pats on the back
- [Acts of service] There was help with moving offices
These were all amazing! But deep down some were integral to my embracing the recognition, while others were more icing on the cake.
Avoid defaulting to what you like or is easiest to offer
You might relish public acknowledgement with a personalized gift, but you also know that not everyone does, and it might vary by circumstances.
Aim to avoid defaulting to the form of recognition that you like and/or is easiest for you to enact.
Try to explore forms that might best resonate with the people receiving them.
Exercise
So here is an exercise to strengthen your recognition muscle
- Start a list of various recognitions that you’ve received (maybe you notice some souvenirs or awards on your shelf, photos of celebrations or volunteer days on your wall, or sticky notes you’ve kept on your desk)
- Every day, enhance the list as more memories pop up
- At the end of the week, notice if there are patterns of what formats of recognition have the greatest impact on you. (Are they small/or large, frequent/or at big milestones, private/or in public? Are they related to gifts, quality time, words of affirmation, touch, or acts of service?)
- Then share your initial insights with someone else, and notice how it feels to discuss the topic of recognition.
