5 Ways to say “Thank You” to your Employees, your Team, your Network, and your Family

Thanksgiving is a time to be grateful, a warm, cozy holiday when we share a few days off with family and friends. We express thanks for our food, we share appreciation for our families and friends for being in our lives, and yes, we’re thankful to have some time off.

But do we always remember to thank our employees, our team members, and our network?

If you’re not already doing this, broaden your circle of thanks. It’s the perfect season to reflect on those who help pull everything together so that we can enjoy the holidays.

Gratitude requires creativity and a conscious effort to consider whom to acknowledge, and how you’re delivering your message.

During my own career, both working at corporations and launching startups, I’ve learned that you reap the best return on gratitude when you make it part of your culture. A thank you doesn’t cost anything, yet it has profound payoff, and can make all the difference in your relationships with your employees, your team, your network, and your family.

Here are some of the best ways to say thanks:

1) Take time to reflect. A rushed or insincere thank you can be worse than no thank you at all. During your workweek, think about who really merits appreciation, and for what. For some, this reflection comes naturally, and for others, you may need to build some dedicated time into your weekly schedule to think about who deserves gratitude.

2) Work on your approach. Thoughtfully consider what kind of gesture would be genuinely appreciated. Don’t call your co-workers up on stage, if they dread being in the spotlight. Instead, try sending flowers to their desk, or leaving them a hand-written card. Creativity, especially when you’re sensitive to people’s interests and tastes, will be appreciated.

Here’s an example in context: particularly during the holidays, and especially if you demand extra work from your team away from their loved ones, send their partners a thank you for gifting you this valuable time. A voucher for a dinner for two, a babysitting coupon, or tickets to an experience they can appreciate later are all thoughtful gestures.

3) Be specific. A thank you is more meaningful when you reference something in particular. Reflect on what your team members are proud of, and thank them for that. If you know that your employee had sleepless nights over an event that you asked her to organize, thank her specifically for her passion that day. When you generalize, your message loses meaning.

Thank you Jenni for making the Launch the GUILD event such a special occasion for everybody!

4) Remember to thank your network. If you receive an introduction or you meet a new interesting person, thank the person who made it possible. They’ll send more connections your way because they know you follow through and you appreciate it. It can be fun and rewarding to trace people in your networks to their sources.

I recently said thank you to my network in this post.

5) Thank your family and your partner. Don’t forget, that throughout the course of your life, your colleagues may change, your employees might move, management revolves, but your family is constant. Thank them for being there for you in good times and in bad. For supporting you on the tough days. Say thank you for their time and give them some of yours.

Tell us about your ways of saying thank you.

What’s the nicest form of thanks you’ve received?

Share this post and help us reflect on gratitude in honor of Thanksgiving.