Celebrate Small Wins On Teams

Progress is a powerful human motivator. But unfortunately, many teams mark progress only when projects are complete or big milestones are crossed. They don’t often celebrate small wins that build up to those big completions.

But recent research suggests that small wins celebrated regularly are a more potent way to keep teams engaged and motivated. In a landmark study from Teresa Amabile, participants were most energized and motivated not in the aftermath of a big celebration, but when they had little breakthroughs-when they found small wins to celebrate.

In this article, we’ll outline four keys to celebrate small wins on teams more powerfully, so that small wins can have a BIG effect on your team’s motivation.

Celebrate Daily

The first key to celebrating small wins on teams is to celebrate daily. It’s important to have a ritual on your team where wins are celebrated on a regular basis-preferably daily. Celebrating daily has two big effects on teams. The first is that it becomes something embedded in the culture and something that makes the day feel incomplete without the celebration moment. The second is that it reinforces the message that a win is a win no matter how small, and that gradually encourages the team to look beyond big milestones and appreciation smaller victories much more.