It seems so simple, but how many of us stop to regularly show our gratitude and appreciation for the people we work with? It is easy to find ourselves buried in emails, completing assignments, running from meeting to meeting, and forgetting to acknowledge the people who make a positive impact in our daily lives. It sometimes takes a real effort to stop ourselves from our day-to-day routine to show our appreciation for others.
It’s critical to not only create positive working relationships but to nurture these relationships over time. Expressing gratitude can help us strengthen our working relationships, create positive feelings, and support one another. Expressing gratitude demonstrates generosity and appreciation for others. It can also have a tremendous impact on the happiness and success of those in the workplace.
Here’s a few suggestions to show your gratitude towards others in the workplace:
Send a thank you. Daily mail can be flooded with printed advertisements, publications, and invoices. Our email inboxes are filled with information and work assignments. Imagine opening an email or finding a handwritten note of appreciation. How uplifting!
Invite a co-worker to lunch. When was the last time you invited and offered to buy a co-worker lunch? Extend an invitation today to meet up with a friend for lunch in the next couple of weeks.
Bring flowers to the workplace. Bring flowers to work for your co-workers and brighten up their workspace.
Reduce the workload for a co-worker. Offer to take on an additional task or an assignment from a co-worker who would appreciate having one less thing to do.
Bring a co-worker lunch. Do you have a co-worker who is skipping or delaying lunch so he/she can make a project deadline? Offer to grab them lunch and bring it back to the office.
Showing gratitude can increase the overall quality of life for both the giver and the receiver. Who doesn’t want improved health? Take a moment today or next week to recognize those people within your workplace who could use a kind “thank you.”
I started a new Administrative Assistant position 3 months ago with a small company. The industry was new to me so I’ve had a bit of an adjustment period getting up to speed with everything. During this time, I have been told “thank you” more times than I can remember being told that in my previous position of 32 years! I’ve also been told “thank you for your good work today”. Wow! The verbal appreciation has been so encouraging to me to continue to do my best for my boss and this company. Not only is appreciation shown to me, but also to the other employees as well as customers and vendors. I have noticed that I have started to verbalize my appreciation a lot more for the things people do or say. “Thank you” doesn’t take much time to say, but can make a big difference in someone’s day! Go ahead…..let people know you appreciate them or what they’ve done!