Gratitude at Work: How to Cultivate a Grateful Culture (with video)

Want More Gratitude at Work, Help Your Team Be More Deliberate with These Practical Tips

I had an opportunity to interview Kerry Wekelo, author of Gratitude Infusion, during the vortex of the pandemic, for practical tips on cultivating gratitude at work.

My guess is that you might have missed this one. So, I’m sharing this short  Asking for a Friend conversation, along with a recent interview to hear her new insights about gratitude at work.

Practical Techniques to Cultivate More Gratitude at Work

As we celebrate our second Thanksgiving since the start of the pandemic, I asked Kerri for her latest insights about gratitude at work.

What practices or techniques from the book are your readers telling you have been most helpful?

Using gratitude in challenging people interactions. These four questions can help to resolve interpersonal conflicts quickly.

1. What are you grateful for about the person and this experience?
2. What have you contributed to the situation, and what would you have changed about your approach?
3. How did the situation make you feel?
4. How you like to move forward in a positive light, and what will you commit to going forward?

What is your best advice for helping leaders encourage a genuine culture of gratitude in their organizations or on their teams?

Be specific when sharing gratitude. Give examples of why you are grateful. For example, we give “Star Player” Awards and share why the winner was nominated. The write-up for a recent Star Player was as follows: “was nominated for his tenacity and creative approach to problem-solving, as well as his extra effort to get the project done on time.” Being specific about why you are grateful goes a very long way in making people feel appreciated and helps them realize all that they offer.

From your experience what causes gratitude to break down on teams?

Not having as a focus and only doing on occasion. Gratitude is best utilized on a regular basis to keep people motivated and appreciated.

Is there anything that has surprised you about gratitude this past year?

How often I go back to using gratitude when I am feeling out of sorts or going through a challenge. It is the quickest way to pivot my mental state.

Any creative advice for leaders who want to show genuine gratitude for their teams (and are looking to mix it up)?

If you want to encourage more gratitude at work, gather gratitude from multiple people on the team to share for special occasions. One example is to ask team members to say in one word why they are grateful for their teammate and then create a word cloud of all the words. I typically will send it out to the entire firm and then frame a copy to give to the receiver. Another example is creating video, audio, and word videos of gratitude. We have done this for anniversaries and also during the pandemic to showcase all our employees. Here are examples.

You might also enjoy my Asking For a Friend Interview with Dan Rockwell, Leadership Freak, about his practical approaches to gratitude at work.

Your turn.

What are your best practices for cultivating gratitude at work?