In our endeavor to prioritize Clean Communication, I led us through a practice today on how to express our appreciation. Why? Because it's easy to get lost in the to-dos, which, at at startup, are endless, and forget how we're all making it happen together. This is part of what it means to be people-first.
It's often easier to start with a framework we all agree to, so I've outlined the steps here. The goal isn't to sound like a robot; the goal is to have a structure through which care and warmth can flow. In other words: good vibes.
The short version:
- be as specific as possible ("y'all are great!" doesn't carry much weight)
- don't force appreciation; it has to be real or it's actually worse than no appreciation at all.
- give appreciation pathways for expression.
Because it's actually challenging to shed our bulletproof professional persona and fully embody Clean Communication, appreciation is a powerful place to start.
But don't do this as a nice-to-have; give yourself a challenge. For instance, for the next month, we are committing to sharing one appreciation a week in our #Kudos-and-humblebrags channel on Slack.
How are you keeping appreciation alive in your workspace? What can you commit to?