M3.0 — Kudo Wall
How often do you stop to recognize the effort others make for the support they give you?
At the beginning of the year, when we began to plan the actions that we would implement to create a work environment in which everyone felt comfortable, emerged the idea of working with the tool named Kudo cards to generate a positive culture and an exchange of gratitude that supports not only generating happiness but indirectly increases productivity in those people who are happier.
I firmly believe that recognition is a gift that has to be given and is not asked for, unlike the feedback that it is a gift that asks and is given. Kudo cards is an easy tool to implement and is completely focused on the intrinsic motivation generated by each of the team members; It is about giving a written and public recognition to a colleague for something he or she has contributed to the team. (Note: a Kudo is not only given from the top down and the bottom up, but can be peer to peer cross department and cross organization )
There are many ways to carry this tool:
- Cards can be placed in a box, in case you want to generate a session to celebrate and deliver them to those who correspond; This can vary according to the organizations, some of them like to deliver them at the end of the week or there are even those who distribute them on a daily basis.
- The cards can be posted on a wall and handed out to people during the session to celebrate the good deeds of the team or teams.
2. Digitally: For those who have their teams remotely, there are ways to simulate this gift and send it digitally:
- You can create the Kudo card at the address: https://kudobox.co/, write the acknowledgement message, and share with colleagues, you establish the way to send them. Making it digital and delivering it individually also has the same result, However, it is not made public as in the case of giving it physically (Unless you want to copy the entire office in the mail, but in my opinion, it could generate an effect negatively if a Kudos shower starts in the inbox).
There are companies who have their own tools to generate digital Kudos and that is part of their culture, it’s the case of Globants StarMeUp ; I had the opportunity to work there for almost two years and I can assure they generate strong relationships and are highly motivated to achieve collective goals.
Due to the pandemic, we wanted to keep the recognition activity, that is why we made a board in the Miro tool where not only the team was present, but also two people with whom we were working on a very special objective this year. It was like this:
I wanted to experiment by generating different Kudos, they are based on the values of our company to help strengthen the DNA of our culture:
At the beginning, I had to explain to the colleagues the meaning of each of our values and how to keep this in mind in everything we do, it could make us feel much better. This has given us a different perspective in our day-to-day life as we now have in mind:
- Try new things
- Think outside the box (Thinking out of the box)
- Enjoy being a partner
- Feel that we are aware (Being conscious)
I learned with this experiment that Kudo cards not only support the team to be motivated intrinsically through recognition, but we could feel so close by sharing part of this Cultural DNA and we even feel closer and proud of the company where we work. The members of the team make the Kudo card and leave it on the board, we get in every day to update our Niko-Nico Calendar, we can see if someone left a gift there and we take the opportunity to thank the support we receive from our colleagues. The team has adopted this tool very well and has adopted the thought of thanking our co-workers each time we support each other and at the end of the week.
In my next experiment, I want to be able to implement a Kudos system based on the values of my client and add a special Kudo card to those people who have tried to shine despite all odds, delivered in a monthly event, in which the collaborators have to promote their colleagues to receive this Kudo through an online voting system. The top 10 voted will receive a Kudo from Spotlighter:
Recommendations:
- Give thanks continuously, not just once. Every day is an opportunity to get/deliver a thank you.
- Do it publicly, not privately. But be careful not to fill email inbox copying everyone :(
- Thank actions, not just the results. Results can often be achieved by some shortcuts while behavior is about efforts and commitment
- This is a nonhierarchical tool, thank you can be given to anyone who has collaborated in achieving your goals and the team ones.
I invite you to put your next thank you on a Kudo card and share it with that person who supports you and You will feel not only satisfaction in thanking but also the other person!
