I'm looking for some input from other Project Managers for how they have celebrated project success when working in virtual environments.
I've got a team that's distributed among 4 different countries and we're coming towards the end of our project and we wont be able to meet onsite before the end of the project.
What do you do when your team aren't located in the same location to celebrate success? Previously, I've done the following but wondering if there's anything different /new:
1) Team "video" closing parties
2) Sending cakes/cards/little momento's to say thank you/ good job!
3) Congratulation /thank you emails to the team Saving Changes...
Recognition is important for every human... We have previously awarded customized gifts.... A link is provided and members select their preferred gifts which has a personal message. A virtual party is held, where achievements are listed and celebrated, gifts are shared and a newsletter is subsequently produced for consumption of the whole organisation and partners i.e donors that work closely with the organisation. Saving Changes...
Luis AssadAdvisor| Barueri City AdministrationBarueri, São Paulo, Brazil
Hi, Emily.
I would suggest the following:
1 - Send a congratulations email to all team members, underlining their contributions to project success. Even better if this email is sent by the project sponsor.
2 - Send a small plaque (or something similar that could be displayed as a trophy) to each team member, with his/her name and recognizing his/her contribution to project success. Forget about t-shirts/apparel - they are something that will most likely be worn only at home, as sleepwear or for doing chores.
3 - Send each team member a voucher for a nice restaurant, along with a personal recognition letter.
For quick, smaller projects, #1 should suffice. For bigger, high impact, high visibility projects, add #2 and/or #3 - provided you have the budget and the company policies allow them. Saving Changes...
If I was early in the project I would look at video for each location. Video that present individual and the region. Some product such as mug, pen ... like many corporation do.
Organigrammes with picture of individual could be interesting Saving Changes...
Karthik RamamurthyAuthor, Say YES to Project Success| Founder KeyResultzChennai, Tamilnadu, Tamilnadu, India
Great question, Emily!
It is indeed critical to celebrate successes. In my recent book, "Say YES to Project Success," I dedicated two full chapters to this topic.
Virtual teams make this a little challenging, but a PM can always find creative ways of celebration. Keepsakes are a great way of helping team members have fond memories of the project.
I already see several great ideas. Here are a few effective activitties I've used in the past:
1. Personalized LinkedIn recommendations on team member profiles, mentioning specific contributions on the project.
2. Get everyone to write short messages to each other team member. I consolidated these into a personalized "Appreciation Circle" keepsake in electronic and printed form, with a cover page having a previous team photograph and each team member's picture as an inset.
3. As Mark Stteward mentioned, a team Video with pictures, text, and memorable video clips from the project. Saving Changes...
