Imagine a perpetual game of tag, played every day with all your team members, using a small whiteboard purchased from the $2 shop!
At the smartAR daily team huddle, we congratulate a team member who has demonstrably lived one (or more) of our values: #Service, #Respect, #Fun, #Growth or #Pride.
We acknowledge the praised team member with a message on the whiteboard stuck to our lunchroom fridge. A photo also gets posted in our company-wide “Teams” channel, so it’s seen by everyone whether the team member is in the Auckland or Sydney office, travelling, or working remotely.
That person gets to bask in the “praise sunshine” for 24 hours and then pays it forward to somebody else that we all acknowledge at the next huddle, and on, and on and on … it goes.
The praise might be for an epic customer service call, that’s been overheard (#Service). Equally, it might be for something a little less common, e.g. the photo shared here is for a team member who left the business a few months ago, and has returned (#Respect, #Pride, #Growth).
We have been doing this for over 10 years.
Why does it work? It’s simple, entirely team driven, and best of all it encourages us to look out for one another doing great stuff. It is so easy in a business (or a family) to only see the stuff that needs fixing, that could be improved upon, or to catch people out when they’re not at their best.
In a busy workplace so many positive actions, attitudes and outcomes can either go un-noticed completely, or only a few folks get to see or hear about them. With our “Praise Board” the team find ways to continually celebrate the great stuff that happens, no matter how big or small.
It is without a doubt the best $2 we have ever spent on team culture. Does your business (or family) have a way to consistently praise people as they live your business (or family) values?