A Penny For Praise
October 27, 2006 – 21:53 pm
Those of you who have sat through my supervision class know that I give away the world’s greatest management principle for FREE! What is that principle? “The things that get rewarded are the things that get done!”
Now, the next big question should be, “What type of rewards should I give?” One of the best and cheapest rewards that a manager can give is praise. That’s right, just a pat on the back for a job well done. I know you already know this but sometimes you need reminded. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a system to remind yourself to praise the folks who help to make your agency a success? You got it!
Each morning before you go to work, put five pennies in your pocket and each time that you praise one of your co-workers transfer one penny to the other pocket. I know it is not exactly the world’s greatest management principle but heck I already gave you that in the first paragraph. Try it and you may be surprised at how quickly you start depending on little tricks like this to help you remember to do the things you need to do. If you like this tip, take a minute and leave a comment.