In Praise of Praise

Having had numerous conversations in recent days about how to get people more motivated (perhaps driven by a sudden return of Winter to my wonderful home town, Melbourne! It gets harder to stay motivated when it is sleeting and blowing a gale!), I thought I'd post a few thoughts...

Sometimes, I hear managers say that their people don't like compliments, or don't respond to them. I wonder whether they have identified how the individual likes to receive them. Probably the only thing worse than not getting ANY recognition or praise, is getting it in a way that doesn't 'resonate' with you; doesn't feel right.

So, what should we avoid - false praise, overzealous praise and most importantly, acknowledgement delivered in an environment that the recipient feels uncomfortable about - it's all about customising your approach to suit the individual.

Options include in person, in private, in public, in writing, by phone, by email, etc - you get my drift. It's also worth considering what they value, in terms of feedback - is it just the regular "doing of their job" or do they see that as superfluous ("of course I am") or is it more important to them to be acknowledged for extra effort or better accuracy or more results or faster response than usual. The key is to make sure that you are delivering the kind of positive feedback that they value in a way that works for them. You may need to let them know that you are keen to be able to praise them, but are finding it hard to do so in a way that they appreciate.

If you already doing all of this, well done! Consider yourself praised!

Now, go out and find someone doing a good job, and tell them about it (in a way that suits THEM, remember!).