The Counterintuitive Effect Of Employee Of The Month
What is it about the employee of the month program that feels so fake and contrived?The weird thing is, that it's programs like this, that are intended to recognize people for their hard work, that fall short in delivering the one thing that people need to be the best, highest output versions of themselves.It's the recognition for their work that people are looking for.It's the idea that their work matters.Still unsure? Check out these quick and powerful stats about employee recognition.
It's clear:
People don't leave bad jobs.People leave bad managers.
So what do you do?
Take literally 2 minutes each day and recognize someone on your team.
2 Minute Action:
Just call them out for something they did when no one was looking.
- Send an email.
- Post in your Slack lobby.
- Write a thank you card.
It takes 2 minutes.Everyone has 2 minutes to recognize the people around you for the great work they're doing.
How To Get It Done When It Feels Like "Someday, Maybe"
David Allen's "Getting Things Done" method calls this the "Someday Maybe" list.The Agile framework refers to this as the "Icebox."It doesn't really matter what you call it, as long as you've gone one.It's a list that has all of those projects you know you need to do at some point but either aren't fully hashed out enough to be important or aren't urgent enough to make it to the to-do list.The tricky part, though, actually isn't writing the list. The tricky part is only having one list and remembering to revisit it every 6 months or every quarter, or in whatever interval you find functional.
2 Minute Action:
Create an Icebox in iOS reminders, Trello, Google Keep, Evernote, or whatever task management tool you use.This is it. This is your list. You're not allowed to have duplicate lists (not even one digital and one physical).Only one.Now set a reminder on your phone, or in Slack, or wherever you set reminders, to run through this list once a quarter.The future is much more likely to happen, now.And that's what it's all about, right? Putting the odds in your favor?