Morale is key to the way a business operates and how workers feel at work. While it may not seem this simple, morale is a key player in encouraging engagement in the workplace. It can help reduce company turnover and increase innovation. The way a company’s culture operates sets the tone for how it survives. 

Something simple you can implement in the workplace to help boost your company morale and help everyone thrive? A celebratory attitude. Whether you work remotely, follow a hybrid schedule, or work in an office setting, it is important to acknowledge when individuals and teams are hitting the mark or surpassing your expectations. Acknowledging wins – big and small, expected and unexpected – within your work environment can go a long way. 

Celebrations Make You Feel Good

Celebratory behavior helps your brain to release the neurotransmitter dopamine, otherwise known as “the feel-good hormone.” When this happens, our environments and the people surrounding us become associated with our happiness. In that moment, you may feel a warmth in your body, a smile that won’t leave your lips, or other physical reactions to the happiness you are experiencing. 

Not only does dopamine help you feel a few moments of actual bliss, it helps you to relive that bliss when you think back on that particular event. So, scientifically, no matter what the celebration is centered on, there is a chance you will get a mid-day boost to your mood as a result. 

Celebrations Create Connection

Dopamine also plays a role in the way humans bond. The release of dopamine can automatically help your brain form a positive connection with the people in your work sphere. The higher the dopamine levels while locked in conversation, celebrating, or brainstorming together, the more positive the experience. 

Celebratory moments are great opportunities to network, get to know each other, and let loose (a little bit). These behaviors will help you to optimize the moment and spread the goodness you or your team are feeling about your office win.

Celebrations Increase Collaboration and Productivity

When team members feel connected to each other and the company’s mission, a sense of comfort is fostered. This comfort can help decrease the number of stress people associate with their work, which makes them more eager to approach it. In turn, productivity could increase substantially. 

Another result of the strengthening of bonds is that people are more likely to approach each other to ask for help in other people’s areas of expertise. Bonds decrease our fear of competition and let us understand the world from another person’s perspective. 

When people within different departments and positions in a company can share their viewpoints openly, more ideas can comfortably be brought to the table. Good collaboration is the driving force in the success of every business. Differing personalities and perspectives can help drive change within any industry.

Would you be interested in outsourcing SEO to Donna because she knows more than you do and could lend her talents to your upcoming campaign? Ask her! Is Bruce chomping at the bit for more design work, and you’re overloaded? Time to bring it up! Celebrating workplace wins can really help your team to rally around each other and reaffirm everyone’s mutual respect and trust in each other’s skill sets. 

Our favorite ways to celebrate everyone’s wins

1. Host a “Team Wins” Thread

Most companies are operating with a project management system now. Even those who are not are most likely using chat options like Google, Skype, or social media. Create a thread with the individuals on your team – or within your company, if you’re feeling courageous – specifically to boost your workers’ egos after a win. 

Let everyone in the chat know that this board is for everyone to celebrate who they would like when they would like, as it pertains to work. (If you open this chat up for non-work wins as well, things could get cluttered… fast. Your team is impressive, after all!) Encourage them to send shout-outs to colleagues that helped them in a pinch, or someone who supported them that day. 

When bigger projects are complete, you can send along your congrats to the team with emojis, memes, gifs, and fun (workplace-appropriate) messages. Things like, “Great work on the new Mailchimp campaign for Client A!” and “We really valued your work gathering stats for the quarterly report!” are great templates to start with.  

2. Send Out Emails

While email inboxes can get cluttered incredibly quickly – especially in a fast-paced, web-based work environment – there is a way to cut through it all. Take your wins to newsletter format! Come up with a fun format with an eye-popping design, and celebrate the ever-living daylights out of your team. Let people submit their kudos so you can include them, and maybe send out special offers, discounts, or other items of swag to make opening the email that much more fun.

We encourage bi-weekly or monthly emails, so people who are getting congratulatory notes or recognition can still associate the positivity to their accomplishments or event. 

3. Host Spirit Awards

Some companies go all out with galas and fancy plaques and trophies to honor their most valued employees. While that can certainly be a yearly goal, most organizations don’t have the funding (or the time or the resources) to make that a priority. 

So, maybe you recognize the spirit of certain individuals with an “Employee of the Month” track. This is an easy, 12-times-a-year project that takes almost no effort. However, it does encourage competition, when collaboration is often the goal. 

An alternative way to celebrate your people? Send out prizes based on superlatives! You might even open up voting to their team members, or other people who experience their bravery, vulnerability, and talent in the workplace. Involve everyone, and make sure each employee knows why you have chosen them for their award. This is a bit of a bigger commitment than most of the others listed but will be especially appreciated by your work community. (Especially if there are rewards. Let’s just be honest here.)

4. Provide Caffeine/Food

Just finished launching a new website for a big client and want to reward your team? Let them know the break room is reserved for the following day, and cater in something nice! Working hybrid? Surprise them with a delivery order at their door, or schedule a “lunch and learn” where you actually let them know that you are transferring money to their account or gift cards via email to celebrate their success.

Another easy way to celebrate an individual or a smaller team is to ask them what their favorite caffeinated beverage or snack is and go get it for them. You can even encourage a break in the day by inviting people to walk or ride with you to get a sweet treat! Your subordinates may be used to fetching items for you, but when you get to physically support them, it will absolutely leave a mark. 

5. Introduce Employee Benefits

Has your team been working hard and producing incredible results? Provide positive reinforcement by adding employee benefits to their employment packages. While many organizations will do this as a “Christmas bonus” or otherwise at the end of the fiscal year, building in things like flex cash, gym memberships or discounts, lunch and learns, PTO, and other fun options throughout the year greatly demonstrates your appreciation. Plus, it lends to employee satisfaction and more work/life balance.

Already finding ways to celebrate your colleagues? Here are a few additional ideas on supporting them and boosting team morale.