Everyone should imbibe the attitude of showing gratitude. Someone just helped you achieve your goals, they assist you with your clerical work, hereby making your activities and daily living more organized or maybe they sacrifice a lot to ensure that what belongs to you gets to you as early as you can get it, showing such people how much you sincerely appreciate them will encourage them the more, it can make them go above and beyond just to make them get more gratitude from you.
Though you have to show gratitude and appreciation, you still have to be careful so that your act of gratitude will not be misinterpreted for selfish interest as office politics could sometimes be likened to House of Cards. Sometimes you might not know when you are overdoing it that it becomes so embarrassing or not doing it the right way. You must try and find a balance so that your gratitude will be genuinely accepted.
It is usually an interesting thing to do when you want to show your friends, family, and relatives how much you love them; go clubbing, shopping, vacation spa treatment, etc. it becomes a different ballgame when you are planning to take that step further by showing your appreciation and gratitude to your co-worker in the office, it is more tricky. Here, we will be discussing 5 types of gratitude that will not turn-off your co-workers when they deserve it:
Personify Your Gratitude:
I must say the greatest mistake you might be making is to send a thank you message by email, worst still, official email. I’m sure you understand how everyone will interpret that; this has a tendency to sound like a template. So, instead of doing this, just walk up to the person and say it to their face, let them see the expression and the heart you are actually saying it from. You must do this because you have to show how real and genuine your appreciation is, also, you want to be specific about what you are really grateful for. Let them see how well their acts have helped you achieved a particular goal or plan. This is how you can personify your gratitude.
Putting a face to your appreciation will leave a lasting impression on the recipient, this might even be the beginning of a relationship that will last for years to come. Being a beneficiary of this form of gratitude, I could tell you firsthand that this works every time. So, you might want to try this out.
Make Sure It Doesn’t Look Like You Have An Ulterior Motive:
It happens that sometimes people show gratitude to their co-workers in a humble-brag manner, they tend to show-off to others more of their own accomplishments by pretending it’s a genuine act of gratitude, even though they planned it all along, they are so quick to show accomplishments off in public. Take for instance your team leader telling your general manager how he worked overnight and that he really wanted to thank you for making the copies. Do you see? While he was bragging about his accomplishment, he tags you along just not to come off as brag to your GM. This kind of gratitude is selfish and it could arouse a bad reaction from you.
You know it’s funny that some team leaders or even teammates will intentionally wait until there is a meeting with your superiors before they present any recognition gift out to you, these people just want to get noticed. Even though there is a recipient of a gift at least, at that moment, it is not really about the recipient, it is about the person showing the fake gratitude just so that he could get recognized in front of the superiors. In this case, he is just a user. Do not be that person. You will need to find the appropriate time to show them your gratitude when it doesn’t look opportunistic. Do this genuinely and not with a strategy in mind.
Mention Them Casually In A Group Setting:
You know the feeling that comes with when your co-workers or even superiors throw you some appreciation cheerfully and with good glams at work, that feeling that genuinely show you off as a pride of the organization, that feeling that comes with highlighting you as the real MVP, that is what gratitude entails. You can boast of them anywhere telling people how much they mean to you or to your organization.
It doesn’t necessarily have to be a big event or even flashy. It should take a very natural way that will be appreciated by all and sundry, take a, for instance, casual gratitude can go this way: “This project comes in right on time, a big thank you to Paul, who reviewed and helped us adjust all the necessary details, this really hits the nail on the head.'” This kind of shower of praise feels so natural, and it will also show that you are not the only one appreciating them but the entire office.
Tailor It To The Person You’re Thanking:
You will need to sometimes study the person you want to show gratitude to before you make the move. This is where personality types come to play. Someone who is an introvert, that keeps to herself most of the time might not appreciate calling her out and throwing accolades at her during an office meeting. This is not in itself bad but remembers you have to study the personality of the person in the picture. Someone who is an extrovert who has perhaps initially been looking for an opportunity to catch the boss’s eye so that she could get a boost towards getting a promotion, then, public show of appreciation during office meetings will likely be a good idea.
Some people are just so shy that they feel embarrassed when you call them out for anything, not even appreciation. Most times, quiet people appreciate cards, flowers, books, etc. You can probably even find out from their friends or their closest colleagues at work. The gratitude you are showing is a real one, so, you must try as much as possible that it does not eventually come-off as fake, unreal, or even embarrassing.
Get Them A Treat:
Not every favor or act of kindness a colleague does deserve a parade, but when you want to show them you appreciate all they’ve done, a small treat can do just the treat. There’s nothing that says “appreciation” like a cupcake especially bought for someone during lunchtime.
How will you feel when someone just walks up to you during lunch hour and hands over to you a cupcake just to say “thank you”? well, this is a whole new level of showing gratitude. A small treat such as Pizza, ice cream, etc. can go a long way. So, sometimes, you might decide to back your word of mouth appreciation with a little gift, it is a good way of appreciating what they have done for you.
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