After a great winter season, today we took time as a team to celebrate.
It was important for us. With a full calendar and a busy schedule, it would have been too easy to just move on to the next thing. When we do this, we devalue both what we accomplished as a team, and what each person contributed.
Here are a few aspects of today’s celebration:
We celebrated one another. Today, this was the awarding of the 2013 Sketchy Awards, with certificates and all—and named after our winter theme, sketch. They were funny, sure, but also highlighted the way each person shined. We identified character growth, talked about perseverance, and applauded creativity.
We spent time together. Sure, we spend a lot of time together in the office, and around camp as we’re making things happen—but today we gathered around tables and ate together. We told stories, talked about new cars, and laughed… a lot.
We did something different. Being in the camp business, it was tempting to go out and do one of our ziplines together, play on a high ropes course, or shoot guns together. These are all things we love to do, and are effective for celebration… but for us, it would have been too much like work. So we watched a movie instead.
But just spending one afternoon celebrating, isn’t enough. It’s important to continue the celebration, throughout the journey, and long after. Here are a few more ways to keep this going:
Tell the story. It can be easy to get bogged down in the day-to-day grind, even when you share a compelling mission. Because of this, it’s important to continue to tell the story of how your everyday work is changing lives and making a difference.
Share emails and thank-you notes with every member of your team—as they come in. Read them out loud, print and post them, and pass them around. You can also solicit stories from your team too. Invite them to share specific stories about people they served.
Share the impact. Make sure every member of your team knows how they are contributing to the big picture success of your organization. Help them to see that their role is meaningful by highlighting how their contribution saved money, broadened your reach or impact, or helped you to achieve goals.
This might mean sharing month-end financial data or other seasonal data points that they might not otherwise see. Explain how their participation directly contributed, and share the reward when possible.
Have lots of parties. Sometimes Christians and business people can be boring. We shouldn’t be. We should take advantage of little moments to throw little parties. I need to do better at this…
It may be a party for one: tear out an ad or headline from a magazine—like one that says “THINK BIG”—and write a little note—like “THANKS FOR THINKING BIG!”—and drop it on someone’s desk.
It might be a party for a few: grab a few people you don’t often get to spend time with and take them to the closest party store for a slushie or ice cream. Take advantage of the drive time to thank them specifically for something you saw them do recently.
It might be a big party: it can be simple though… like bringing in homemade cookies or brownies and taking a few minutes to eat them together. Or it could be crazy… like dragging kayaks up the hill to ride them in the snow. Or it could be a special day… like today.
The truth is, I’m really proud of my team. Every one of them worked hard. Every one of them worked with integrity. Every one of them learned something new and grew in some way this season. And every one of them played a significant part in changing lives over the last three months. And that’s reason to celebrate.
