How to show appreciation to your remote team – give thanks virtually this holiday

The end of the year is a lovely time – work slows down, people go on vacation, and the holiday season brings a warm fuzzy feeling that trickles into the new year. This is the best time to show your team how much you appreciate them and acknowledge their incredible achievements and hard work. It may seem a bit cheesy, but people enjoy being praised. In fact, according to Glassdoor, 53% of employees admit that appreciation from their boss would encourage them to stay longer at their company. Additionally, 81% of employees reported feeling more motivated when their boss shows appreciation for their work. Therefore, fostering a culture of gratitude and turning the spotlight on your employees is important for productivity and employee retention.

Global Workplace Analytics predicts that 25-30% of the workforce will be working-from-home multiple days a week by the end of 2021. Many teams can expect to be remote for a long time, which means that team bonding and celebrations will need to be done virtually. Thankfully, there are many tools available for remote managers to use to show their team that they appreciate them. With a little bit of creativity and care, a simple e-card can make your remote employee feel seen and cared for.

Here are a few simple but effective ways to show your remote team that you care and give thanks this holiday season:

Create a praise wall

Receiving praise from your boss or teammates is heartwarming but receiving public praise in front of the entire company during a town hall or all-hands meeting can be uncomfortable, especially for introverts. A great way to sum up the achievements your team has made this year is to gather praise from your entire organization and compile it into a praise wall! All you will need is an Open-response activity set as a word cloud or a text wall (whichever style you prefer). Personalize the praise wall by changing the colors and adding a background image. Send the activity to everyone in your organization using a shareable response link to collect the compliments. Then share the praise wall with a live results link or a screenshot.

Get your own copy of a praise wall copied directly to your Poll Everywhere account here.

Design a custom ecard

Writing and sending letters and cards will never go out of fashion. Leaving a handwritten note on a coworker’s desk to show that you appreciate them doesn’t have to go away just because we are all remote. Bring this into the virtual realm by using custom ecards with simple design tools like Canva or Hallmark’s eCards. Write a kind message for your teammate and send it via email or through your team’s internal communication platform.

If you wish to collect letters from everyone in your company, use Google Slides or another shareable slideware software that allows others to contribute their messages. Download beautiful slide templates from Slidesgo and ]SlideCarnival to customize your card. Once everyone submits their responses, share the final deck with your colleague!

Company trivia

Sometimes sharing success metrics can be boring. Spice things up with an exciting company trivia! Collect a few standout achievements from the team leads in your organization and put together a Competition using Poll Everywhere to create the trivia questions. A couple of great questions to ask include:

• Which large deal was the sales team able to secure this quarter?
• How many new leads were captured in Q4?
• How many product updates were made in Q4?
• How many views did our blog get this month?

Have your entire organization participate in this fun Competition and guess the answers. Once the question is locked and the answer is revealed, take some time to praise those responsible for the achievement. This is a fun way to bring excitement to any remote meeting while giving praise to your hardworking teammates.

Gift cards and boxes

Nothing shows your appreciation for someone quite like a gift. If you really want to show your team that you are proud of their hard work, consider sending a small present in a gift card or a gift box. Virtual gift cards are great to send along with a virtual ecard. Consider sending a gift certificate to their favorite local restaurant, an Etsy giftcard to support small businesses, or something more universal like an Amazon gift card.

If you prefer to send physical gifts, we recommend sending a personalized gift box. Companies like Knackshop, Happy Box, and Snacknation offer custom gift boxes with easy shipping and handling. Is your team a group of tea lovers? Send a tea sampler set. Do they love reading? Consider putting together a relaxation reading set with a bookmark, pen, and a candle. The possibilities are endless. The best part of using a custom gift box company is that you can attach a personal message to each box, letting your team know that you appreciate them.

Gift a virtual experience

If your team is celebrating major milestones this year, consider gifting a special virtual experience. Virtual experience packages from Zoom and Airbnb are on the rise as a result of COVID-19. These experiences can range from cooking classes, yoga lessons, or painting classes. If these activities don’t interest you or your team, try a virtual tour or a virtual playdate with zoo animals from your local zoo. We recommend making this a group experience for your whole team to build camaraderie and bring your team closer. Your team definitely deserves a fun activity outside of work to end the year on a high note.

Even with everyone working remotely, it is more important than ever to continue propping up your employees and making sure they feel appreciated. These celebrations, little or extravagant, can boost morale and gear your team up for what is to come in 2021.