Top Tips to Celebrate Your Team

In a recent Leadercast Now video, Bill McDermott, CEO of SAP, shares the importance of celebrating victories – the big ones and the small ones along the way.

Everyone loves winning. We feel a rush of adrenalin when a project is successful, a product launch has a huge response from customers, or our organization hits its revenue numbers. But what about the daily successes? Many leaders see victories every day, but wait for the “big” win to celebrate.

In the video, Don’t Forget to Celebrate the Victories, Bill McDermott shares a dynamic story about why we shouldn’t wait to celebrate, and discusses three keys to motivating your team and acknowledging their successes:

• Don’t become preoccupied with cutting costs. Every leader has a budget and is concerned with getting the most from their resources and investments. Yet, constant preoccupation with cutting costs can lead your team to believe that the financial bottom line is more important than the people. People should always be an organization’s primary focus and greatest asset. In every task and goal, the people in an organization should feel that they are most important resource.
• Constantly reiterate the vision. Executing the daily tasks can cause people to forget the overall vision of why the organization is doing what it’s doing. So it’s important to continually restate, reiterate and remind your team. Teams expect their leader to cast a vision and lead them toward the goal. To raise your level of leadership and celebrate the victories along the way, clearly share what you want your teams to do, why they are doing it, and where they are heading. Your team will execute the tasks to get there as long as it’s a good, solid plan.
• Ask how your team wants to celebrate. In the video, Bill McDermott shares that his team wanted a holiday party with entertainment by a popular local musician as a way to celebrate hitting their goals. Do you know what kinds of celebrations your team would like? It may be sharing a happy hour together, participating in a day of service, being treated to lunch, or having a party. Ask your team how they would like to celebrate team victories, letting them know that their hard work will not be overlooked, but rather, rewarded.

Celebrating the victories can be an inspiring way to develop team camaraderie and collaboration. Follow’s Bill’s insights to develop your teams and accomplish organizational goals at the same time.

Now it’s your turn:

When was the last time you celebrated a victory with your team?