Dysfunction 6 – Thank you, Thank you, Thank you

Something magical happened yesterday – someone said thank you to me…

‘For what?’ I hear you ask.

1. Had I just finished a big project?

2. Had I completed an urgent piece of work for a senior executive?

3. Had I bought in doughnuts for the whole team?

4. Had I gone out of my way to help someone achieve something out of the ordinary?

5. Had I managed to go more than 30 minutes without farting?

The answer to all of the above (unfortunately for those that sit next to me) is no.

It was for simply taking 3 minutes out of my day to have a conversation with someone and answer a question.

But what I noticed was the fact someone showed me honest appreciation and thanked me made me feel good. This got me thinking.

When was the last time this happened? And also, when was the last time I thanked someone for something simple and showed them genuine recognition?

I’ve worked in teams before that gave out £10 M&S vouchers each month to people who have had success by achieving their targets. This was great, but I think we can all do more.

Wouldn’t it be great if we felt more appreciated on a day to day basis? If we felt more willing to give recognition to each other at work? If we didn’t take all the little things for granted?

And I’m not talking about cultivating an underground movement where brown envelopes stuffed with M&S vouchers get traded in darkened corridors.

I’m talking about small everyday moments.

Our days at work (and everywhere else) are made up of a shit load more small things and mini victories than those big project completion moments.

These should be celebrated too, but why wait till the end to thank the people who have been slogging their guts out for the last 3 months?

1. Thank them if they hold a good meeting.

2. Thank them if they solve a problem.

3. Thank them for showing up on time.

4. Thank them for asking you a question face to face instead of sending you an email.

5. Thank them for not farting every half hour.

Why do we wait for the big things to happen to do this?

Why do we pretend we are immune to praise and that we do not want or deserve to be thanked?

Well let’s not. Let’s stop acting like robots and act like humans.

Say thank you to someone today for something small that you genuinely appreciate. Do this knowing it will make them feel good and that it reminds them (and you) that you don’t take the little things for granted.

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P.S. Thank you for reading this blog post, I genuinely appreciate your support.

See – I bet you feel better already. I do!