Make someone smile using Kudo Cards

Do you know what Kudo cards are? Have you used them in your day-to-day life? Let me tell you what they consist of, how I applied them and what benefits they brought me.

What are kudo cards?

Kudo cards go beyond giving a card with a message to people. Kudo Cards provide acknowledgement and encourage intrinsic motivation. They are a way to offer gratitude between colleagues  for a particular behavior or can take the shape of praise from an employee  to the CEO of an organization. It has to be two-way, top-down and bottom-up. 

How did I use them?

I used Kudo Cards on several occasions and in several contexts. First I did so with a team that I encouraged to thank their colleagues for their behavior, any compliment, no matter how small. I wanted them to notice how sometimes we go through the day and forget to thank our colleagues for help they might have offered us or for an idea they gave us. The colleagues left their completed cards in a box and once a month we opened the box and took out the cards. Everyone would review their own. The company allowed us to spend an hour of their time recognizing how they are valued and improving team relationships. 

Kudo cards could also be used at specific events.  At the end of a Sprint Retrospective event I asked the participants to use the Kudo Cards to thank any Scrum team members for any appreciated behavior during the session.

Job interviews are also a good place to implement Kudo Cards. At the end of any given interview everyone involved in the process gives the candidate a card giving them recognition for their participation in this process.

Benefits of Kudo Cards

As I just mentioned above, Kudo Cards go beyond a message on a card. Have you ever wondered when the last time someone from your job thanked you for something you’ve done? Let’s take a look at the benefits this brings:

• Improves relationships between people
• Improves communication
• Improves collaboration
• Boosts intrinsic motivation
• Increases morale and happiness at work
• In short, they create a healthy environment