Tips from lunch meetings to creative symbols:
- Have managers pop in at the first meeting of a special project team and express their appreciation for the members’ involvement.
- When a group presents an idea or suggestion, managers should thank members for their initiative.
- Encourage a lunch meeting with project teams once they’ve made interim findings. Have managers express their appreciation. Encourage continued energy. Provide the lunch.
- Promote writing letters to every team member at the conclusion of a project thanking them for their contribution.
- Encourage creative symbols of a team’s work, such as T-shirts or coffee cups with a motto or logo.
- Have managers ask the boss to attend a meeting with the employees during which individuals and groups are thanked for their specific contributions.
- Suggest catered lunches or breakfasts for high-performing groups.
Workforce, February 1997, Vol. 76, No. 2, p. 70.