I’ve had the good fortune to work with several organizations who are immersed in a deep dive into their organizational culture. The teams are all very different in many ways but share some similarities, including the fact that they are all high producing teams, who feel over capacity often, and are clear that the horizon will bring more work, not less. Recipe for disaster? We are working hard to make sure that doesn’t happen.

After doing an organizational audit – centered around talking directly to team members --  it usually becomes clear that there is a very important part of their culture in the shadow, often forgotten in lieu of more pressing daily challenges. These teams don’t prioritize celebrating their success—both as a team and as individuals. When prodded, they are able to produce long lists of impressive accomplishments – big and small – that never really got a second glance once completed.

Celebration of success is a non-negotiable for high functioning teams. It’s just as important as doing the work.

I’d argue it’s more important than ever because so many teams are craving connection and are currently figuring out what that looks like when so many of us are now in hybrid or remote working arrangements. In fact, retention of superstar employees is directly impacted by how valued individuals feel and how connected they are to their co-workers.

5 Ideas

I know, I know. You are busy; the to-do list is never-ending. It doesn’t have to take a lot of extra energy or planning to build in celebration. Here are some ideas from clients that I have picked up and hope will inspire you:

• Quarterly Team Meetings to reflect and celebrate goals and accomplishments. This particular team is fully remote and they get together in-person every quarter. They meet in the morning and then have lunch together.

• Slack channel (or Teams or whatever else you use!) specifically for celebrating accomplishments. Here at The Spark Mill ours is called “High Fives and Celebrations” and is quite active—we toot our own horns and also give shout outs to co-workers who have done something awesome.

• Give extra time off after a big accomplishment is complete. We have several clients who know that there are predictable big deal “all hands on deck” times for a team and they bake in a set amount of time for everyone to take time off to recuperate and to show their appreciation. Maybe it’s an afternoon, a day, or a week.

• Appreciation/shout out space in regular meetings. When it’s part of the agenda it’s more likely to happen.

• Special breakfasts, treats, decorations and signs, small (or large) gifts, an email to a boss pointing out how great someone’s work was, and more!

Find the time to build the practice of celebration into your organizational norms; you won’t regret it.

 If your team is looking for support on navigating your organizational culture, we are here to help! Reach out to schedule a time to talk.