Kudo Cards are an easy way to say “thank you.” In our daily work, we do not spend much time thinking about the small things that make our life a little bit easier. For some people, it is not easy to thank other people. Some even think it is not “professional” to show emotions. I installed a small box in our team space next to our task board, and we could see it every day at our daily. Next to it, I have put a stack of Kudo cards and a pen to lower the hurdle. At the beginning of our retrospective, I take the box, and we celebrate every card, putting a smile on their faces. After a while, people felt more comfortable saying “thank you,” and we did not need a ceremony anymore. Now we take a card, write down why we want to thank and who we want to thank and hand it over in person.
Now in every kitchen in the company, there is a mailbox, and people can insert a card. Every two weeks, there is a company meeting, and (almost) all employees participate. At the end of the session, all Kudo cards are presented and handed over to the receiver, and we value it by clapping. I realized some people feel uncomfortable when everybody is watching and clapping for them, so you have to be careful who you are giving a Kudo card in private and who to give the card in public. Another challenge is to include remote participants. Sometimes they sent the cards with the post, sometimes they took a photo and sent it in mails. It brings people closer to each other, even if they are not physically present. The quantity of these cards dropped, and we experimented with a #kudo channel in our chat tool. Now you can give virtual Kudo cards by telling a chatbot, who you want to thank and choose from a set of reasons, why you want to thank. With the help of this bot, the quantity has raised enormous, but as the people cannot write a personalized text, the quality suffers.
Want to have Kudo cards for your team and company? You can get it at the Management 3.0 website:
https://management30.com/practice/kudo-cards/