1-Minute Acknowledgment

Ways to see, celebrate, and thank team members in 60 seconds or less

People have an evergreen need to feel acknowledged. So, don’t leave acknowledgment for just the big award days and celebration events. Make it an everyday thing.

10 Ways to Acknowledge in 1 Minute

1. Hi + Name

Just say “hi” to everyone and say their name. 

2. Shout-Outs

Give and ask others to give shout-outs to team members verbally or in the chat. Mix it up by asking for shout-outs to be more celebration, gratitude, or seeing efforts. 

3. One Word Check-In

Everyone on the team says or types in one word (or a few more) that captures how they are feeling. 

4. Specifically Mention Work

As a leader, specifically mention the recent work. Don’t just say “good work recently,” but say something specific about the reports, the presentations, the data analysis, the leads generated, and more. 

5. Reality Check

Take time to acknowledge how hard things have been for people. State that you see their needs, and explain how you are working toward helping them by removing barriers or adjusting demands. 

6. Highlight a Person

As a leader, acknowledge one person at length. By rotating who you acknowledge at each meeting, people will generally feel acknowledged and seen. 

7. Story Time 

Invite a team to simply tell the story of a recent project—not just the results, but the process—so all can acknowledge the effort and reality behind the work. 

8. Barriers

Ask people to describe in a few words a barrier they are facing right now to working or living well. 

9. Normalize Positive Bragging

Invite or even force people to brag about themselves. In doing so, make it the norm for people be publicly proud of their work. A great tool is to have everyone complete the sentence, “I was awesome this week when . . .” 

10. Just in Case

Ask your team to fill in the sentence, “Just in case you didn’t know . . .” and then have them point out the potentially overlooked work that they or others have done.