How do you know if a person needs encouragement?
If they are breathing!
If you know me, you know I believe in the power of appreciation and encouragement. None of us get enough of it. So, if you read many, or any, of my blogs, you know I write about this a lot. Here are some practical tips for giving more encouragement to the people around you.
On the way to the parking lot, elevator or bathroom (pick your favorite), always find someone to encourage. Can’t find anyone? Send a text of encouragement.
Set a reminder on your calendar to send an email, text, or make a phone call of appreciation. Have the reminder repeat daily. Okay, you can take your birthday off.
Never eat lunch until you have told someone something they are doing well.
Begin every meeting noticing something that is going well.
Bring 20 note cards to work each month. Use them up each month. Repeat. In the note card write things like, “Enid, thanks for putting in a good word for the research team when you spoke to the board,” or “Ralph, when I was walking into work today I noticed you stopped and picked up trash. Thank you.”
Put up a whiteboard in the break room. Write down something great that you noticed about a colleague every day. “Saresh always makes me laugh.” “Ashley is so efficient.” Be prepared to run out of white board space as others will join in.
If you feel encouragement is important, make time for it.
What are your best ways to encourage others?
I compliment complete strangers: killer shoes, great earrings, love that shirt, oh..a pocket square, how cool. I see people pick up and smile, and that feels good. I work mostly alone but am always good about thanking people for specific things in email: Mike, thanks for tracking that down, I really appreciate it.
Janice,
Thank you so much for commenting. I am sure your colleagues enjoy working with you. It’s so nice to have someone who notices all that is going right instead of solely pointing out what’s going wrong! Please keep reading and commenting!
Karen