Small Wins Nourish Team Motivation

“I remember negotiating a truly important supply contract with a British company. It didn’t seem to work out and the whole department worked in the constant stress for weeks. And then finally we somehow managed to get the conditions our small and aspiring company wanted. I rushed to my boss’ office to announce that we’ve finally received the offer we needed. In about 15 minutes after that, he personally came to our department’s open space and brought champagne for all of us to celebrate the result. Years later, working for a huge corporation, I still remember that moment of triumph and recognition.”

That is a typical description of what psychologists call “a small win”. An intermediate achievement within a large-scale project doesn’t usually get enough attention and recognition. And probably it should.

How “small wins” concept works?

Few people are capable of maintaining a sustainable level of motivation between the regular salary reviews. Moreover, money is not the only motivator for most of your employees, especially the creatives, who appreciate the meaningful work and are fueled by every little break-through they make. Recognizing these little pieces of success emphasizes the achievements. Not only this makes the employees more motivated to proceed, it also adds to the overall atmosphere in the office and the mood ratings and even makes the communication in the team smoother.

In fact what worked for us when we were drawing poppy flowers in a kindergarten still works when we launch the hi-tech products and services. People need to have their successful work recognized to stay inspired.

What options are there to recognize “small wins”?

There are actually plenty of them. Offer an extra day-off, buy pizza for a lunch break or give some sort of a privilege they would appreciate. Don’t forget about notifying the rest of the employees about the “small wins” - it works as a sort of a social currency for the achievers and it also motivates the rest of the crew. It could be a newsletter, social network posts or even simple mentioning of the win during the huddles.

It’s easy to miss this micro-moments when an employee deserves to be recognized. Use the tools - the software like Lanteria to define and to recognize the “small wins” in-the-moment.