When did you praise somebody last time for her good work?

At the Usability Lab Finland, we try to do it daily. It does not cost anything, it basically comes for free but it is a great gift for the recipient. In many cases you actually make her day with just a few words about recognizing her work – even if you have no clue how people accomplished something. The result counts.

No matter how crooked your day was, we try to make people go home with a straight back. Praise helps. It is the cheapest asset of creating a positive work atmosphere and to create a good place to work. It is cost effective. It is positive.

What we have seen as a side effect is, that this simple change in daily routine, changed an entire working culture from isolated working attitude towards teamwork, from “just trading 7.5 hours of working for money” to “it is actually nice to go to work”. It is a little miracle and it builds trust. People feel valued and they are easier to contribute that tiny bit of extra which make the difference between ok and great. This is one of the things I learned from my dad and I am thankful he introduced me to that idea.

At Usability Lab Finland, we created a simple banner for our own use. Feel free to share. You find it from the download section. It would be great if you recognize our work in way you would like to be recognized by yourself, and if you just send us a feedback that you like it or how you think we could improve. The banner is the outcome of an an exercise for Armagan Videos’ Illustrator tutorial: Blend Tool Line Logo.

One last word. Do not get me wrong. We also criticize each other, but that is a topic for another blog post.