FREE online courses on Being a Valuable Team Member - Recognize Your MVP
When a sports team wins a championship, they follow a
time-honored tradition of recognizing their most valuable player. This is the
player who, for that game or series of games, gave a stellar performance. It's a
nice touch. The team is also generous in lavishing public praise on their MVP
during the post-game interview. In my own experience, no praise pleased me so
much as when a fellow teammate would say, "We couldn't have done it without
you." Apply this practice to your work teams--it's an important investment in
team building.
From time to time, you will have a member (perhaps it will be
you!) who puts in extra hours or who applies his or her particular talent to a
project to make it a winner.
In a team-based environment, it's management's responsibility
to reward team performance. It's the team's
responsibility to recognize and acknowledge its stars. Be generous with your
praise; it's a powerful motivator and it costs nothing to give.
