With the holidays approaching it is a wonderful time for us to pause to say ‘thanks’ to all the people who have helped us all year. One of the groups that we can often forget is our coworkers that have made our job easier for us in so many ways. You may want to know what the appropriate way to appreciate coworkers is and who are the colleagues that we should thank. So in this article, we cover how to thank your coworkers.
What to thank your coworkers for
Ask yourself “what do you appreciate about your coworkers”? Write the names of your coworkers and the significant ways in which they helped you. For example, maybe Jane helped you a on a major project you worked on together. Perhaps, David did the art on your project. Susan brought encouragement and positive energy to your team. Your boss was excellent at helping your brainstorm or focus on a task. Maybe you had an administrative assistant that promptly scheduled rooms and meetings.
Be sincere about what you appreciated about them
The key to gratitude is being honest with yourself about what the task meant to you. For instance, David’s art really took into consideration the colors you told him you preferred and that made your opinion feel valued. You were depressed about the recent cutbacks, but Susan’s ability to provide positivity really lifted your mood.
Just because somebody did their job, doesn’t mean you have to appreciate what they did. For instance, if someone did a task begrudgingly, or was so late it caused you to miss a deadline doesn’t mean you have to go out of your way to appreciate them. Think about the instances that in your heart really stand out and were truly meaningful to you. Don’t just ‘check the box’ by thanking them. At the same time, try to learn to appreciate even the littlest things.
Be sincere but fair
There are colleagues that go out of their way to help us at our jobs but perhaps are not our favorites 🙂 Their personality doesn’t mesh with ours or for some reason we just don’t like them. However, the fact of the matter is, that without their help, we couldn’t have done the job. Rise above your feelings and be fair. That is the mark of a true professional. These colleagues deserve our appreciation. When we do this, it truly builds trust in the workplace.
Think about how their help may have contributed to the business. If they helped you in a fairly substantial way, think about how this impacts your business. Maybe Sally’s demo led to a sale. Joe’s analytics made your team’s processes more efficient.
Do it because you are truly thankful, not because you are trying to achieve a certain work result.
Give thanks when you are genuinely sincere about it. Don’t say “I’ll get them a gift, because then then may say good things to the boss about me….or they’ll do more things for me”. While being genuinely thankful will certainly reap rewards, you don’t want to do it because of trying to force a certain result. Doing this will eventually come back as distrust, or people will see you as fake. I have a colleague who says good things, about people when she works with them, and then stops when they move to another team. In that case people tend to dismiss it.
How to thank your coworkers
- Thank them immediately when they do something nice for you – Get in the habit of thanking your coworkers immediately after they do something to help you. Practice gratitude at the point of the occurrence. For example, if Steve reviewed something for you, send an email thanking him. Be specific about what your are thankful for. “Steve, thank you for being so thorough on this review. It will make it more accurate for our customers”.
- Email a note of thanks – Sending a thank you note to coworkers is one of the easiest ways to thank them. Write a note saying specifically how they helped you and why you appreciated it. This is especially great for small things that colleagues helped you with. “Mary, I really want to thank you for being such a thorough reviewer on our project. Your prompt reviews really helped to get the project done. I feel confidant that we can trust the information that is going to our customers because of the expertise by which you reviewed it.” This is wonderful if you do remote work or if you work in an office.
- Tell them in person – If you see them at the office or have a virtual meeting with them, why not tell them in person. This works well if you have a one on one meeting with them. If you are with a group and it is appropriate, work what they did into the conversation if it is natural. “Before I begin, I just want to thank Jay for helping me write this report”.
- Leave a note or card on their desk – If you work in an office or workplace, you can also choose to leave a note or card on their desk. This maybe better than email, if the task they helped you on was fairly important or significant.
- Cite them in a presentation – If you are giving a presentation related to what they helped you with, have a “thank you” slide, and list their name as well as others that helped. If their help was extremely significant, you could devote a slide to them with their photo and how they helped you.
- Use business recognition systems – if your company has a system in place for official recognition, consider nominating the person. For instance, at our company, before quarterly meetings you can nominate a colleague for recognition. They will be mentioned by an executive at the meeting. Some companies have systems where you can nominate a colleague and a gift card can be issued to them (paid by your department). Perhaps your company newsletter takes submissions.
- Copy their boss – if their contribution was significant, consider writing a note specifically saying how their action not only helped you but how it contributed to the business. Copy their boss. I would generally reserve this for very important contributions.
- Take them to lunch – If they did something significant for you, and you are on friendly terms with them, consider taking them to a modest lunch. Here, you may need to evaluate whether that is something that your workplace allows, your coworker enjoys and if you both feel comfortable with that. Offer that to them, and see if they take you up. It is a nice way to build comraderie amongst colleagues. If you are uncomfortable being 1-on-1, consider inviting a few people.
- Give them a small gift during the holidays – Give a small, but, meaningful gift to a coworker that significantly helped you. Check your company’s policy to see if this allowed. Many workplaces allow a gift of around $25. If I know them well, I think about what they like and give it as a gift. Example, a bag of coffee to someone that loves coffee. Have they had a baby or got married recently? A baby gift or wedding present is always thoughtful. Keep it personal but professional.
- Give an eGift Card sent in the body of an email – If you don’t know what they like, then I find Amazon gift cards or another local favorite place always work well, especially if you work remotely. Electronic gift cards are easy to administer. Send the code or attachment in the body of your work email, telling them why you are thankful for their work. Gifts I have given really stick out to the coworkers because they are often unexpected and such a treat.
I always accompany the gift with a gratitude message. I often find that what I write is more meaningful than the gift I get them. Give a gift, if it is natural to you. If it doesn’t feel like you or you are not a ‘gifter’, try another method of delivering thanks. Remember, the key is to always be sincere.
Benefits of giving thanks
- More trust in the workplace
- Feeling like you did something good for someone
- Creates a positive cycle of influence – for instance, I have subject matter experts that help me all year making on projects for our customers. At the end of the year, I give them a small gift with a note of thanks. While I don’t expect anything back, they happen to be the largest advocates for our project, telling everyone how great it is.
- Adds to your professionalism – Shows that you value and respect others and aren’t afraid to acknowledge it. It also demonstrates your ability to plan and be organized.
- People like working with you and want to work with you again – Saying thank you to your coworkers really makes them feel appreciated. They take with a positive feeling about their interaction with you and they often choose to work with you again.
When you know how to thank your coworkers, you live with an attitude of gratitude. You learn to look for the silver lining in other’s work and learn how to appreciate coworkers. It makes you someone that is great to work with and what is better than that. That adds to a life filled with work life balance and certainly more comfort, leisure and joy.
