I actually have an example to share! Not 100% work-related but my colleague turned dear friend (of 10 years!!) recently celebrated a birthday and reached an important milestone at work so I made him a Miro board to celebrate! I knew we weren’t going to be able to celebrate IRL so I divided the board in a way that an in-person conversation or get-together would go.

• Part 1 was a moment to reflect. I gathered all of the photos of my friend, me, and our other friends to reflect on our past 10 years of working together and friendship! It was a great way to walk down memory lane while being in our respective locations 
• Part 2 was a moment to appreciate. Here is where I wrote a heartfelt note wishing him a happy birthday and my amazement at all he’s been able to accomplish over the 10 years at his job— the place we first met and…
• Part 2 was a moment to refresh with a gift! No birthday or milestone celebration is complete without a gift! I wanted my friend to feel like he was opening up a gift as I walked him through the perks of his treat. I shared with him the gift card for his spa day and info about the spa and what made it so special — hmm next time I should do a Talktrack to really take this gift to the next level 

 I want to do more of these so let me know what you think and if anyone has other ideas on how I could make my birthday boards  more interactive! Excited to see everyone else ideas!

We started this during the Covid lockdown but everyone loved it so much that we just kept on doing it:

Grubhub Gift Card Surprise
We asked the team what their favorite food was and which local restaurants they frequented. Then when anyone produced great work and the team felt like it deserved a free meal, we sent a digital Grubhub gift card to that team member and said “Dinner is on us!” with a link to the restaurant they loved.

It’s a simple way of showing gratitude but also a great way to not stress about dinner after a busy day at the “office”.

One of the teams I've been a part of had a weekly practice in slack called the 4 Ps: Progress, Plan, Problem, and Proud of. This allowed each team member to reflect on their achievements and acknowledge others' efforts, promoting well-deserved recognition among teammates. It also allowed for a designated moment to give someone a shout-out and kudos! I bet @Mary Findley remembers that one! 

Stealing one from my wife. She worked at Seer and they had a dedicated channel called “F@ck Yeah, Friday” and every Friday people would shout out others that did something exceptional that week. It could be anything from nailing a client presentation, jumping in and offering help to get a project across the finish line, or simply picked up the spirits of a teammate. 

It had such a positive impact, that I liked to ask her what the shoutouts were for the week on Fridays. 

F@*k Yeah, Fridays! What an amazing idea!

I attended a Scrum Master day with the rest of my SM team a couple of months ago and our Chapter Lead had a tree drawn on one flipchart page. Throughout the day, people could add positive things about our team members to the tree on leaf shaped post it notes! This was such a lovely idea that I’m going to use it for my next team day and even on a miro board for people to add to regularly. 

Thank you Manouska! In our organization, we have a “Caught in the Act!” program that focuses on the 5 elements of our Practical Vision and the 4 key Strategic Directions that drive our 3-year plan. We empower every team member to familiarize themselves with these seven pillars and use them as a basis for recognizing the contributions of others. These moments of recognition are shared and recognized by all levels of management in periodic all-hands meetings. One of our clients adopted this same process and added Lego blocks with the company logo. Recipients would use their awarded Lego blocks to build unique pieces of Lego art to be displayed in their spaces.

How we celebrate? We actually don’t. I’ve successfully managed to implement „winner mentality” where achieving goals is given, not something you just try and sometimes succeed. But that’s definitely not the way for emotional ones. 

Pawl, thank you for sharing! I’m actually very curious to hear more about this  “winner mentality”. Being able to actualize the goals you set forth can feel like a celebration in itself so I can appreciate your approach. Can you please share an example of how you go about setting your team up for success so they achieve their goals all of the time?  

Whoa! I love the visual representation of Lego blocks to show how people are building upon the pillars. So happy you were able to share, John and hope you’ve been well 

We were only able to high-five through the screen, so this thread is super helpful (I'm also interested in other threads with techniques and skills for remote work). Thank you to @Manouska J and everyone who posted

Hi-fives through the screen is a good start and we’re happy to help you add more creative ideas to your roster @Tatsuro Ueda 

Anyone have ideas on how we can help @Tatsuro Ueda take virtual high-fives to the next level??

We have a formal recognition platform at work, but I've been relying on good ol' Cousin Ed to help me spread the appreciation around these days! I even let him move into my saved files

It’s so important to celebrate the wins! My team has a daily check-in call, and on Fridays we use the time to celebrate wins big and small from the past week. It can be a personal win (learned a new skill) or business win (great feedback on a deliverable), but it gives us a chance to virtually high-five and cheer each other on, and end the week on a positive high-note.

Hi! All is well. I really appreciate the effort that you put into building our community. Be well. 

My favorite way to celebrate a big win is with a traditional touch that everyone looks forward to! After a significant achievement, we gather on a Friday afternoon to toast with champagne in the office. It’s a special way to commemorate our hard work and success together. Then, we cap off the celebration with a dinner where we can relax, share laughs, and discuss our win in a laid-back setting.

For smaller victories, we keep the spirit up with something uniquely local—bubble milk tea, a favorite here in Taiwan. We order these cool, chewy drinks on Friday afternoons, turning them into a refreshing tradition that marks the end of a successful week.

Bubble tea sounds amazing! Totally agree -- sometimes a small shared moment with the team can do a lot to build and maintain group morale. Thanks for sharing, @Camille Chen! 

We're excited to start fun, monthly virtual award ceremonies using Miro boards to celebrate our awesome team members! We'll send digital certificates or gift cards to the winners. Plus, we're setting up a colorful Miro 'Shoutout Wall' where everyone can post notes to recognize each other's achievements. It's a great way to show appreciation and build a positive team spirit 

Aww, @Petra Ivanigova -- this sounds like a super cool and fun idea! Let us know how it goes!

As a product designer, I will answer with the answer I often give, yet I hate to receive...which is “it depends!” 

First of all, it depends on the type of win/team/people, then it also depends on the kind of win:

• If I’m celebrating a UX win, the most common way is to share in the bigger UX group slack channel. This allows me to give visibility to my people in a bigger scope.
• ‍♂️ If I’m celebrating a win as a team/individual, I resort to a retrospective/team building moment to give kudos, celebrate and also I often create a “kudos” section so that people can also express their feeligns
• For bigger wins, I brag all the way in bigger forum, where different roles can see how cool we are

Hi @ruicouto 

“It depends” are truly the most influential word in business, for sure! Definitely appreciate your take and your examples on this. 

In our workplace, we celebrate wins and give shoutouts to our team through a Kudo Board. Before each all-hands meeting, team members fill out the Kudo Board with their acknowledgments and praise. During the meeting, our leadership team highlights these kudos.

What I particularly love about this approach is that we have two categories for nominations: "Solo Heroes" and "Teams." This not only recognizes individual contributions but also emphasizes the importance of teamwork and collaboration. It helps foster a culture where working together is just as valued as individual accomplishments.

I always try think about fun and engaging ways to enable celebration or recognition culture in the remote setup.

And, what I can highly recommend from my experience being in remote environment for 5 years is HeyTaco by combining it with Slack, it can create a great combination of being fun and competition .

We even managed to connect some rewards and prizes for the winners .

Give it a try 

For our fully remote team we have three different ways of celebrating success:

1. Kudo Wall: In our Teams Channel we have a channel dedicated just for Kudo’s. So you can easily give praise to others, be it team members or colleagues, in a tribe wide channel and making the success visible for all.
2. Appraisal Shower: We regularly come together as a team to give each other praise. (e.g. “Who helped you out the most this week and why?” ; “What did you learn the last month?”) 
3. Gathering Feedback from Customers: As an Agile Master I gather the Feedback from our customers through different channels and will surprise my teammates with the collected Feedback on our Miro Board (usually every 2-5months)

We’ve done it in a few different ways...

1. We have a dedicated Slack channel that we use in the moment to give shout outs to people that go above and beyond.
2. At the end of every all hands meeting we try to save some time to have an open forum to give shout outs to people who are aligned to our company values and
3. We’ve had Miro boards in the past with stickies centered around everyones names. Folks can go in and give kudos to anyone and everyone that they want. 

Love hearing everyone’s ideas!

Hi @Yehor Kachanov  -- A Kudo Board! What a great idea! I like that the team gets involved in delivering praise so that it’s not all top-down.