Project Team Recognition & Morale Building

I think it’s safe to say that everyone understands the importance of taking time to recognize and celebrate project team accomplishments, yet this is an area that is frequently overlooked.

We tend to get so bogged down in our day-to-day activities that we fail to plan ahead and either scramble to pick up something to recognize an accomplishment at the last minute, or choose to ignore acknowledging the accomplishment all together.

Small gestures of appreciation go a long way toward building team morale. There are many no cost options for recognizing excellence on the project team. A few examples are: handwritten thank you notes, performance feedback appraisal (formal or informal) to the team member’s manager/supervisor, arranging for the Executive Sponsor and/or CEO to come to a team meeting to acknowledge the team’s accomplishment, and sending a company-wide email announcing the delivery of the project and recognizing the contributions of each member of the team by name.

There are also many low cost options for recognizing your project team members. A few examples are: team celebration lunch or breakfast, movie passes, Blockbuster movie gift cards, Starbucks gift cards, bringing treats to team meetings, gas cards, go-cart racing outing, laser tag outing, and good old AmEx gift checks.

In addition to recognizing specific accomplishments, here are a few general morale-building activities to keep team members engaged throughout those long duration projects: conduct a team meeting at a nearby ice cream shop, introduce a fun project team contest (name the project contest, design the project logo contest), create promotional items with project name and logo (t-shirts, mugs, hats, stress balls, flash memory sticks, etc.), take a long lunch or schedule a “team meeting” one afternoon and take the team on an outing. Such outings could include: mini-golf, go-cart racing, laser tag, or a picnic at a local park.

I am always looking to expand my list and would love to hear from anyone that has implemented other ideas or activities that were a hit with their project team.