Take Two Minutes Twoday!

 Today is Tuesday, 2/22/22.  Can anyone think of a better day to carve out two minutes of your day, and say "Thank you" to a partner, peer, coworker or friend who went out of their way to help you?

If you've been paying attention, you already know that showing gratitude at work can measurable improve a team’s performance.  Did you also know that "Overdoing Thank-Yous" is also shown to help improve a team's (and an organization's) psychological safety, which (wait for it) is necessary for a high performing culture?

Daniel Coyle, in his book The Culture Code, states that one of the key components of the cultures of highly successful organizations is a sense of belonging. 

Take a few minutes and think about a really great team you've been a part of. (It could be a work team, a sports team, a school project, a community/volunteer effort, it doesn't really matter what kind of team, just a great team.) 

What were some of the things that made that team great? 

If you jotted down a list of things, I would be willing to bet that list included something like "I felt included/welcomed/important."  That is a sense of belonging!  And that sense of belonging is what helps team members feel safe.  Safe to share new ideas.  Safe to ask 'dumb' questions (that sometimes lead to the best solutions!)  Safe to raise their hand with a perspective that the group may not have considered. Coyle states in his book that "thank-yous" in a highly successful organization may even feel over the top!  Consider this summary from vpaonlig.org “In highly successful cultures, the thank-yous may seem over the top. The Spurs coach, Popovich, takes each player aside at the end of the season and personally says, “Thank you for allowing me to coach you.” At the KIPP Infinity school in Harlem, the teachers seem to be continually thanking each other and once the administrative assistant bought all of the math teachers Pi Day t-shirts as a way to thank them. These motions aren’t just niceties; they signal a sense of safety and connection. In fact, Coyle often saw the most powerful people thanking the least powerful members of a group. In one instance, at the opening of a restaurant, a world famous chef started by thanking the dishwasher, noting that the success of the restaurant depended on the work of everyone.” Now showing gratitude, in and of itself, doesn't create a sense of belonging (and therefore psychological safety,) but it is one of the things that can help lay a create and reinforce a feeling of safety within a team.  You also don't have to wait for something spectacular to happen to share a thank you!  Have a great call with someone?  Thank them for their time and their partnership!  Someone make you smile in a team meeting? Thank them for that moment of awesomeness!  Someone just "always there" with an answer or support when you need it?  You get where I'm from, right?  The key here is be sincere.  Genuine gratitude helps build belonging.  Faux gratitude ("I'm sending this because Coach Dan said to show gratitude") does the exact opposite, so be sure to be genuine and sincere!
Why not take two minutes on Tuesday, 2/22/22, and show your (genuine) gratitude to a team members, partner for friend? Send a thank you / "you're amazing" email to a coworker who is always there for you Start off daily huddle with a "lightning round thank you blitz" (around the table, 5 seconds or less, thank you to someone one at huddle for... anything really) Hit "reply all" to a team email and do a shout out to a person who helped you out last week Start off your all hands meeting with open-mic "moments of gratitude" Post a "couldn't have done it without you" message in a team's channel Call up a valued colleague and remind them of how much you appreciate them No point in waiting around for someone else to help create a high-performing team culture.  Invest your 2 minutes and help to build and reinforce a great team culture today!
We All Win Together!