Unlocking Innovation: The Ripple Effect of Appreciation

Appreciation for a job well done can go a long way, especially when it becomes part of every team member’s experience. The organization can see the ripple effect of appreciation into a stream of innovative ideas. A team where appreciation is natural, instant and fair, innovations become a norm without having to put effort.

This article delves into:

• Why appreciation is not given
• Why it should be given, key aspects to keep in mind when appreciating
• How to leverage the same to unlock innovations.

How often do you get appreciation for the work you do ?

How often do you appreciate the work your team does?

Appreciation doesn’t always mean big awards or remuneration, in fact such appreciation often fizzle out. Appreciation means the recognition of good work your team does every day , not matter how small, building ability to see such small but effective work and appreciating them regularly, build a environment where in you will allow the effects of appreciation ripple into creating innovative ideas and products.

Lets Deep dive!

Some appreciations are forgotten, almost immediately!

Although, thanks to multiple online courses, workshops and other leadership training methods, most of them seem to be aware that they need to be appreciation of the team. Most of them without good understanding of what appreciation means, end up providing lavish awards and remunerations to the team in a company event of team gatherings.

Such action are done purely done to prove that the organization is having a culture of appreciation. Such actions are forgotten almost immediately, and people go back to old ways. While leaders are proud that they completed their duties.

In Majority of cases, such “display of appreciation” backfires people with real achievements being put in backdrop and reward some who might be “undeserving” of the award.

3 Principle of Appreciation

Keep three principles in mind when appreciating your team’s work to ensure it has the greatest impact.

Instant

Appreciation should be instant, when you see a good job, a good work, hear a good idea, it should be appreciated instantly. This should be done irrespective of final results it can or would not generate. Appreciating instantly builds the sense of involvement and acceptance to the team or the member enabling more positive responses, ultimately leading to innovations.

Genuine

Appreciation should be genuine. Being instant in most cases ensures the appreciation is genuine. When appreciation is genuine and real, it helps build the most important bond across the team and the leader, the TRUST. Trust is fundamental for any successful relationship or roll out a initiatives across the organization.

Public

Always show appreciation publicly, in front of the team, organization, or in other forums. The impact appreciation has when done in front of the team provides two benefits:

• Helps build positive vibes across the team, allowing more open discussion around ideas and solutions
• Ensure the innovative member(s) of the team feel appreciated and continue to think of ideas

How to Appreciation?

There is a big misnomer, when it comes to providing appreciation and give a physical reward. Although remuneration as a appreciation is the easiest approach, there are other ways to appreciate which is more meaningful and appreciated as well, let’s look at it.

first two of them listed are simple, instant and genuine with no effort.

1. Simple, Pat on the back

The simplest and best approach for appreciation, arguably providing best results is a simple “Pat on the back” comment goes a long way to show how genuinely mean to appreciate.

When you frequently show appreciation every day or week, your team members replicate this culture. This will enable the ripple effect for ideation.

2. Written Appreciation

A written appreciation is something you can do for a consistent performance of a member typically over a quarter with a written appreciation. This should be something that can be proudly put on their desk, laptop or other display areas on the floor.

3. Organization Awards

Recognizing with a quarterly or yearly award, which most of the organization do, is the most common way of appreciation. Although without having a culture of 1 and 2, this approach of appreciation generally fails.

In most cases the awards will be based on shallow reason and events. Thus leaving most talented and genuine teams / members feel left out.

4. Remuneration

Although, not always required, providing a remuneration with a cash reward as an appreciation works as a temporary catalyst to build a sense of recognition and ensure the team focuses and builds the culture of appreciation.

No need to appreciate every time

There is One last factor to keep in mind when trying to appreciate good work. There is no need to appreciate every time and for everything. It is important to keep it genuine.

Conclusion

In Conclusion, it is important to build a culture of appreciation which is genuine, instant and make it public. A good appreciative culture ensures a good rippling effect across organization thereby delivering innovative ideas and products. This culture of appreciation not only make team more collaborative and efficient, but organizations also need not spend high budgets to build the culture while reaping benefits.