 |
Harvey Mackay
Column for the week of January 4, 2010
Season of Celebration
Should Last All Year |
|
|
|
In this season of unlimited celebrations,
and all the good feelings that accompany them, I often wonder
why we limit our celebrations the rest of the year.
I like a good celebration—birthdays,
anniversaries, weddings, births and graduations are all great
occasions to celebrate. It's wonderful to gather family and friends
and share the joy.
What about the people you work
with—don't they like to celebrate too? We spend about a
third of our time with these folks, yet most companies provide
little time to celebrate small accomplishments or major victories.
That's a big mistake in my opinion. Work shouldn't be a joyless
part of life: it should be a place where we can be excited, enthusiastic
and passionate about what we do.
Why celebrate at work? First,
it creates camaraderie, and that is essential to teamwork. Second,
a celebration recognizes and commemorates something worthwhile
or important. Third, a celebration can reward an individual or
team for the good work they've done. And fourth, it is just plain
fun. Fun not only makes the workplace more enjoyable, it raises
energy levels as well. |
|
Most companies don't celebrate
enough when times are good. They definitely don't celebrate enough
when times are tough. With budget cuts and belt-tightening, lots
of good things disappear. I can make a good case that celebrating
during the difficult times might be even more important.
Celebrating individual success
proves how much you value the person. I've yet to work with a
company where employees told me the company celebrated them too
much. More often I get the comment that "...no matter how
hard we work, no one seems to notice."
Organizational success needs
to be celebrated. Business is off 30 percent this year? Maybe
you should celebrate that it isn't off 50 percent! I am pretty
sure that the downturn your company is experiencing isn't your
fault, or the fault of your employees, so why not celebrate that
you're still standing?
Bolstering morale is even more
important when the chips are down. It can't hurt for people to
feel better about themselves and where they work. And they'll
feel more optimistic about the challenges and travails of the
times.
Here's a crash course in becoming
a world-class celebrator:
1. Celebrate frequently. You're
familiar with the old adage, "Life is short. Eat dessert
first." I think we should also remember: "Life is short.
Celebrate often."
2. Celebrate big and celebrate
small. Most people are familiar with the expensive celebrations
(off-sites, restaurants, sporting events, invite your spouse,
etc.) How about the little celebrations? A Monday morning donut
party can celebrate another week that you're open for business.
3. Celebrate creatively. Don't
just think dollars (cost), think different (creative). Throwing
money into a celebration won't necessarily make it a success,
and in times like these, that probably isn't an option anyway.
Instead, consider what little things you can do to note, recognize
and reward individual and team success. Start with the basic
3Fs: food, fellowship and fun. How can you enhance each when
you celebrate?
4. Involve others. Rotate who
is in charge of celebrations. Don't get caught in a "party
committee" trap like the television show "The Office."
Different people will bring different perspectives on how to
celebrate.
5. Don't worry. Some celebrations
will be silly, a little goofy or imperfect. So what? I'd rather
be occasionally silly than permanently rigid. While I am a big
believer in results, celebrations are a good example of how intentions
can sometimes be as important as the outcomes they create. Most
people will appreciate the intention behind a good celebration,
even the imperfect and silly ones.
In his book TeamBuilt: Making
Teamwork Work, my friend Mark Sanborn tells the story of a supervisor
who threw a pizza party for her team after their company had
hosted a huge recognition event for achieving outstanding results.
He asked her why she had the smaller, informal party after the
big gala. Her response was insightful. She said, "The big
events won't keep happening. We'll keep doing great work that
may or may not get recognized and celebrated in the future by
upper management. It is my responsibility as a leader to always
celebrate my team's success."
|
Mackay's Moral: |
Finding a reason to celebrate isn't
hard work—hard work is a reason to celebrate! |
|
The Author  |
|
Harvey Mackay is a nationally
syndicated columnist for United Feature Syndicate. His weekly
articles appear in 52 newspapers around the country, including
the Chicago Sun Times, Rocky Mountain News, Orange County Register,
Minneapolis Star Tribune and Arizona Republic.
http://www.mackay.com/
Copyright, Harvey Mackay. All rights reserved. |
|
|
Print
Forums
Refer Page
submit an article
