Say Thanks for Less Than $100

Quick question: How’s your team doing? Are they stressed out, burned out, and just tired of being asked to do more with less?

One more: Are YOU stressed out, burned out, and tired of being asked to do more with less?

You may not have a lot of money, but things could be a LOT worse for you as a manager. You could have no team left, and then where would you be?

Today, make plans to unexpectedly say thanks to the folks on your team, for less money than you might expect.

Get a postcard and have everyone on the team sign a personal note of thanks – Go to the local Walgreens or 7-11 and pick up some postcards. Pass them around at the next team meeting and have folks share their thanks with the rest of the team. Mail them home or hand them out on the spot. Investment: $.40 or less for a postcard, and $.27 to $.42 for a stamp if you send it home.

Send a hand-written thank you note home – Take a casual snapshot of your associate in action, and send a handwritten note from you, thanking the associate’s significant other and/or parent for sharing your associate with you and your team. Investment: $.75 for a stamp and printing the photo.

Buy them a cup of coffee or a soda – Everyone gets thirsty. If you have a coffee pot, take it around mid-morning and offer to pour folks hot a cup of coffee. For the non-coffee drinkers, pick them up a can of soda or juice or a cup of cold water. Investment: $2 per person.

Invest your next lunch in getting to know the people on your team a little more – You gotta eat, so why not eat with someone from your team? One at a time, take each person on your team to their favorite lunch place. Find out why they love it, what their favorite meal is, and order it. Realize it’s not about YOU, it’s all about them. Investment: $15-$30 for both of you.

Mail 2 movie tickets home – Treat your associate and her/his significant other to a movie night on you. Include a hand-written thank you note to the significant other for sharing your associate with you and your team. Investment: $25-$35 for 2 tickets, $35-$50 if you include popcorn and beverage.

Buy a favorite movie and a box of microwave popcorn and mail it home – Find out what your associate is interested in but hasn’t made time to buy yet and send it home with a box of microwave popcorn. Include a hand-written thank you note to the significant other and their kids for sharing their favorite person with you and your team. Investment: $25-$50.

What’s your favorite unexpected way to thank your team?

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