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Just Wanted to Say Thanks

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Re: Just Wanted to Say Thanks

#171
post #119
post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don’t think people express these things nearly as often as they feel them, and I expect that many of the positive things that do end up communicated have another motive behind them. I have the displeasure of working with a team member who does the exact opposite: at every chance he gets, he expressed his displeasure regarding other team members to management. Once I confronted him about that behavior and he state…

I hear you. But having once worked with team-members who take critique at anything, personally, I feel there is more to this. I always try to praise a person. But I also want to "reserve all rights" to say that a codebase is crap or a choice made in the past was evidently a bad choice. Finding the balance to critique work that a person contributed to, without criticising that person itself, is hard. A true challenge,…

I've found that if part of a codebase is truly shoddy or just plain badly written, the developer who wrote it generally knows how bad it is, or at least that it's not up to snuff.

Criticizing the code itself (with useful feedback), and not the person who wrote it, gives them a chance to own up to it if they're comfortable with doing that. And if not, you're still able to improve the codebase without directly calling them out.

If they get pissy about it, that's on them.

Re: Just Wanted to Say Thanks

#172
post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We then read them all out followed by a round of applause for each one of them That may be good for team building and make some people feel better but, personally, I would find that situation very uncomfortable.

Gratitude is a skill anyone can learn. Accepting compliments is also a skill that anyone can learn. But, both of them take practice. It's okay to feel uncomfortable with something, that doesn't necessarily mean that it's wrong. Sometimes we're just uncomfortable with something because it's not something we've had a lot of experience with.

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Re: Just Wanted to Say Thanks

#173
post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The website already earns enough. Donations wouldn't make a big difference, so I don't feel comfortable directly asking for them. Nonetheless, I'll give it a try. Thank you for the suggestion!

The parent reply here is arguably just "priming" the reader to remember that donations are an appropriate way of showing thanks for the help. It's not that people are unwilling or unable to afford to give a donation (although some cannot), its more that they don't even consider it in the first place. A gentle reminder, even smaller and simpler than the above example, just prompts them to consider if they would donate…

I was going to say that I think people kind of build up an immunity or aversion to those sorts of requests as they become more common, but after some consideration there's a difference between individual vs mass communication in that regard.

Re: Just Wanted to Say Thanks

#174
post #163
post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Expressing gratitude and accepting compliments are nice skills to have, but making of it a public show is just bad taste, IMO.

Of course you are entitled to your opinion, but "praise in public, punish in private" is a saying for a reason. Praise is more effective in public, and praising one person on the team publicly benefits the entire team, not just that person.

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Re: Just Wanted to Say Thanks

#175

I’ve learned that when I have a positive thought about someone, it’s generally worth communicating it. If I think a coworker saved me on some project, I tell them. If my partner is making me feel warm and fuzzy, I tell her. If someone impresses me, I say so. I don’t think people express these things nearly as often as they feel them, and I expect that many of the positive things that do end up communicated have anoth…

On every retrospective session we do, every other week, there is an additional column called “stars” or “heros” and we add a note each there giving praises to someone else for something they did those two weeks. We then read them all out followed by a round of applause for each one of them. It brings great positivity to the team.

Mandatory clap time sounds horrible haha. I guess it's nowhere as near as robotic as it sounds in reality

Re: Just Wanted to Say Thanks

#176
post #142

I’ve learned that when I have a positive thought about someone, it’s generally worth communicating it. If I think a coworker saved me on some project, I tell them. If my partner is making me feel warm and fuzzy, I tell her. If someone impresses me, I say so. I don’t think people express these things nearly as often as they feel them, and I expect that many of the positive things that do end up communicated have anoth…

To an extent. As I become more generous with my compliments, I find that even a genuine compliment might be too much sometimes. That being said, I never miss a chance to praise people's work. As long as you don't make a big scene out of it, it's always appreciated.

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Re: Just Wanted to Say Thanks

#177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On every retrospective session we do, every other week, there is an additional column called “stars” or “heros” and we add a note each there giving praises to someone else for something they did those two weeks. We then read them all out followed by a round of applause for each one of them. It brings great positivity to the team.

That sounds horrible to me. I’d much rather be in the background rather than getting effusive, mandatory public praise. Maybe I’m weird, but I’m not motivated by cupcakes, gold stars and clapping. If I do a good job, that’s just the minimum standard. If I do something worthy of clapping, then just remember that when it’s time to award annual RSUs and bonuses or when a special project comes up that needs leadership. T…

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Re: Just Wanted to Say Thanks

#178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I imagine it might also cause adverse effects if someone happens to be missed.

I have personally experienced this. My otherwise really good manager had a monthly vote for the best worker in our small team where each vote was publicly announced. I, and another coworker, never got a vote while others got several. Really great way to make some of your workers feel really left out!

This is precisely why leaderboards suck. Instead of picking the single best contributor, do as the OP did and acknowledge all good contributors.

Re: Just Wanted to Say Thanks

#179
post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On every retrospective session we do, every other week, there is an additional column called “stars” or “heros” and we add a note each there giving praises to someone else for something they did those two weeks. We then read them all out followed by a round of applause for each one of them. It brings great positivity to the team.

Mandatory clap time sounds horrible haha. I guess it's nowhere as near as robotic as it sounds in reality

You’re not showing enough flair

Re: Just Wanted to Say Thanks

#180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Absolutely. My current workplace is very good at the organic thankyou. I try my best to show gratitude where I can.

What could have caused you and the other one to not get any votes, at the previous workplace? I'm guessing it was not work performance or anything like that (The votes were publicly announced -- and also who had voted?)

It can be something simple like having work with more visible impact
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