When I think back to some of my proudest moments at work, they often went hand-in-hand with appreciation and gratitude from my team or my boss. That boost of motivation is hard to beat.
Imagine your whole team was running on that boost. All things being equal, you’d kick your competitors’ asses.
If you asked my partner, she’d probably tell you I criticize her too much. Gratitude is definitely not what I’m known for.
It can only be fate that I was asked to write this article.
What follows is a grumpy man’s guide to gratitude at work.
If you’re looking for more advice on team building for work, free activities for virtual teams, for leadership, to improve your team’s communication or solve problems together, you can find them on our blog (or follow the links!).
Gratitude is a mindset, not just a team building activity
Real talk: Your team won’t feel appreciated because of one virtual team building activity. They WILL feel appreciated if you make recognition a part of your team culture.
Establishing this culture won’t happen overnight and needs to be lived by more people than yourself. The best thing you can do is lead by example, show others the power of gratitude, and bring them along on the journey.
If you’re not sure where to start, we’ve compiled 7 activities and our 4 favorite tools to establish thankfulness as a core part of your team.
7 activities to say thanks and build a team culture of gratitude
If you already have a solid mindset or want to kickstart your gratitude journey with activities, we picked our favorites below:
#1 Gratitude ice breaker questions
Ice breakers need no explaining. Take 5-10 minutes before your next team meeting, pick one or two questions from the list below, and ask each team member to answer the question.
It’s a great way to get to know your team beyond everyday work.
Work-related questions
- For each person on the team, name one thing you’re grateful for.
- What is one thing someone on the team did that made you happy?
- Who is someone that listens when you talk, and how does that affect you?
- What’s a stressor you’re grateful to have put behind you this year?
- What’s something you’ve learned this year?
- What’s a hard lesson that you were grateful to learn?
- What’s one thing you’ve enjoyed about doing your job recently?
Personal questions
- What aspects of your city or neighborhood are you grateful for?
- What have others done in your life that you’re grateful for?
- What’s the best thing about your home, and have you taken the time to enjoy it recently?
- What’s something enjoyable you get to experience every day that you’ve come to take for granted?
- What happened today/yesterday/this week/this month/this year that you’re grateful for?
- What’s an aspect of your personality that you’re grateful for?
- How have you used your talents recently, and what have you enjoyed about doing that?
- What relationships are you grateful for?
- What’s one thoughtful thing someone did for you recently?
- What’s an aspect of how you were parented for which you feel grateful?
- What made you laugh or smile today?
Thanks to 7 Summit Pathways for providing these questions.
#2 Say thanks in front of the whole team
Sharing a compliment with someone is a great way to show you appreciate them. Complimenting them in front of the whole team takes things to a new level - not only are you thanking them, but you’re also showing the rest of the company that saying thanks is a priority. That’s the stuff gratitude cultures are made of.
If you’re forgetful like me, set up reminders 15 minutes before large team meetings (e.g., all-hands or standups) on your calendar.
It is a great way to make your colleagues feel supported, recognized, and encouraged at work.
#3 Use your weekly one-on-ones
Maybe you feel that recognition in front of everyone will make someone uncomfortable. In that case, use a more personal setting.
Instead of booking a one-off meeting to say thanks (I can feel the awkwardness), use your weekly meeting to get your gratitude out.
Same as with larger meetings, set up at least monthly reminders so you don’t forget!
Not doing 1:1s with your team yet? Check out this guide to get started.
#4 Give everyone a budget to spend on another coworker
The Greater Good Magazine at Berkeley nicely summarizes why giving makes you happy. It’s a scientifically proven concept, and if you’ve ever given to others (🤞🤞🤞), you know it makes you feel good.
You can apply this concept to professional settings.
It’s pretty simple:
- Buy a Visa gift card with enough money to cover everyone’s gifts
- Assign buddies that gift each other
- Schedule one hour with your team
- Explain the rules for 10 minutes, then give everyone 30 minutes to buy a gift for their buddy with the credit card. Here are three services you can use:
- Ask everyone to share a picture once they’ve received their gift
Gift giving can be tricky, especially if you are out of ideas on what to, well...gift. We wrote a blog post with some wonderful gift ideas.
#5 Volunteer together in-person
At my last company, we would volunteer for a local charity once a quarter. For distributed teams, this has gotten more difficult.
But many distributed teams get together a few times a year - a good opportunity to use a half or full day to support a charity of your choice.
We’ve done anything from folding shirts, working in the garden, weeding in our public park, or helping set up the venue for a fundraiser. Just pick your favorite charities, send them an email with the dates you’re in town, how many people you are, and a few examples of what you could help them with.
There’s nothing better to practice gratitude than giving back to others in the community.
#6 Gratitude Week
Sometimes, the best way to make a significant change is by focusing all your energy on that change for a short time.
Introducing: Gratitude Week.
What sounds like something an oppressive HR team might enforce on you can be a great way to kick off a culture change.
Instead of spreading out thankful activities across weeks and months, dedicate every day to gratitude for an entire week. They are guaranteed to spread some positive attitude too.
#7 Give a raise or promotion
Raises or promotions don’t qualify as an activity but are well worth mentioning.
If you have team members who are consistently hitting their goals, it’s time to give them a raise or promotion.
Chances are they already know their worth. If you don’t recognize their achievements, another company will.
Bonus: 4 tools to reinforce a gratitude mindset in your team
Tools are a great way to quickly introduce gratitude to the entire company and boost morale. We’ve found four tools worth checking out:
- HeyTaco: Allows your team to give tacos to coworkers. The person with the most tacos gets recognized.
- Reminder: A simple reminder tool for Microsoft Teams
- Kudos: For Slack, Teams, Outlook, and more
- Gomada: We’ll put ourselves last on the list because we’re not designed for gratitude alone. But in a way, investing in your team culture is showing gratitude for the hard work everyone does for the team.
Takeaway: Make gratitude part of your culture, not a one-off event
If there’s anything I’ve learned from writing this piece, it’s that gratitude isn’t something you do once a quarter.
It’s something that’s lived by every single person in the company.
And the best place to start is with yourself.
Others will follow.
What are you waiting for? 🤜🤛
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