Celebrating Accomplishments

How do you help your board or staff celebrate accomplishments? If you find you’re not celebrating much, it’s possible that it’s not because you’re not accomplishing anything but instead that you’re not measuring anything. You might just need to back up a bit and first establish something you can measure. Having goals that are measurable is a key element in recognizing when those goals are met.

Many organization write goals that are ambiguous. They use terms like “improve” or “support” followed by the areas they are interested in making a difference in, but with no measurable. Take another look. Ask your team to brainstorm on how they can turn their goals into something measurable.

You want more membership. How many? By when? You want better strategic partners or sponsors. How many? How much money do you want to raise? How many different types of companies do you want to partner with? You want your team to get to work and get things done. How many meetings should they attend? How many reports needs to be written? How many new people do they need to network with?

When you set the measurable goals, you’ll know when you reach them, and when you can celebrate them. Everyone enjoys celebrating an accomplishment, it fosters team building, it raises everyone’s confidence levels, it makes your team more effective at meeting new goals moving forward. So take the time to celebrate them! Weekly, and at the least, monthly, let your team know you appreciate the work they are doing.

Even when the goals are not met, progress can be celebrated. So you only met half your goal for new customers or members? Yeah! You’re half way there! Go team and bring it home! Use check in points as your “half time” and coach your team to turn it around and still win the game. Pointing out to anyone how they have failed never gives them the confidence they need to succeed. Letting your team know you believe in them, that you’ll provide them the tools they need and all you ask of them is the confidence and dedication to bring it home, that’s what will give you something to celebrate!

Rewrite your goals so they are measurable. Break them down so you can celebrate the steps that get you closer to the accomplishment. Celebrate each step along the way. That’s a recipe for success!
