Are you interested in starting your own Awesomeness group at work, but worried about messing it up?
First, it’s common to make mistakes in an Awesomeness group, especially if you’ve never ran one before. Don’t let fear hold you back for that reason alone. Second, we’ve helped lots of Awesomeness groups get off the ground. As such, we’ve encountered many of the same types of errors over and over, so we know a thing or two about how to get around them.
With that in mind, and to help you on your journey, we’re going to share 10 of the most common mistakes we’ve witnessed when someone starts and runs an Awesomeness group at their workplace. That way, you can learn how to avoid them in case they ever come up for you.
(Hearing about the Awesomeness group for the first time? Click here to learn all about it.)
1. “We have too many groups already and don’t need another one just for recognition and appreciation. We can do it within one of our existing groups,” or “Let’s at least start with our existing group, and then, if we see people take an interest in expressing appreciation, we will create a separate group/channel afterward.”
In my experience, this strategy doesn’t work for most of the companies who try it. Existing work groups are usually for employees to talk about getting work done, asking for updates, complaining about something going wrong, or letting everyone know when a situation with a customer escalated.
I see the Awesomeness group as a positive space filled only with positive energy and comments about the goodness all around us. It helps bring employees in a healthy, upbeat frame of mind. When people scroll down through the messages in the Awesomeness group, they should see only positive comments and feedback.
Avoid the mistake of incorporating your Awesomeness group into an existing channel or group chat by building an exclusive space for it instead.
2. “Let’s put all the people in one department together into their own Awesomeness group. Since they work directly with each other, they will have more to be grateful for and appreciate.”
At first blush, it may seem easier to put all the members of the marketing team together or the entirety of the production team together in their own separate Awesomeness groups.
But the real magic of the Awesomeness group happens when you put everyone across all departments together. It creates a sense of cohesion between all the employees, regardless of their position or status within the company.
Having said that, don’t turn the Awesomeness group into a showstopper. If you are not at a CXO level, it may be difficult to get everyone on board with creating and participating in one common group. Don’t worry about that. Just get started with your team, and slowly work in as many other team members as you can.
3 .“Let’s put all the functional heads together and make groups based on hierarchy.”
Some people want to divide people based on their positions, like putting all the top leaders of the company into one Awesomeness group. One of the reasons I often hear to support this logic is that people at the same level can communicate with each other well, or that it would bring employees in similar positions across departments together.
Don’t do it. Remember that appreciation and recognition must flow like an ocean: in all directions and at all levels, so that all the employees form a unified front.
4 “Let’s make the same people drive the energy and the activities for the program for the entire year.”
This is a complete no-no because driving energy and directing activities will always require active members to do them. That’s a lot of work to put on just a select number of people.
To show you what I’m talking about, here are just some of the things that your group facilitators need to do to keep the Awesomeness group up and running.
- Encourage people to participate.
- Make a list for the weekly Spin the Wheel activity.
- Help the winners select the prize they want to receive.
Note that I said, “weekly.” These tasks, and more, must be repeated from week to week. The Awesomeness group may start to feel monotonous if the same people are directing things all the time.
Something else to consider is that taking a leading role in an Awesomeness group changes people. They will have a new level of appreciation for the effort that the employees who came before them put in to make the group fun and exciting. And it will inspire them to make their own magic in their turn.
The bottom line is this: involve different people in running your Awesomeness group from time to time. Let other voices and perspectives participate to bring newness and freshness to the activities and prizes.
5. “Spinning the wheel is too childish.”
As adults, we take ourselves too seriously. The truth is that we all have a child within us that loves surprises and a chance to win a special prize. Do it for fun, and don’t be ashamed!
6. “Make it simple and just give the winner a gift voucher.”
This is not a good idea. Here’s why.
Have you ever received a gift voucher and never redeemed it? Even when you had a whole year to use it before it expired?
It’s not just you. Talk to 10 people around you, and you will know that this is the reality. Even though we may be efficient at work, outside of the office life takes over, and we don’t end up redeeming our gift vouchers.
That’s why I encourage you to forgo the vouchers and tell the winner they can choose an item from an online store up to a certain cost. If you’d like to learn more about that, read step 8 in “Create Your Own Awesomeness Group in 8 Simple Steps.”
7. “Allow people in the Awesomeness group to drift into all kinds of conversations, not just expressions of recognition, appreciation, and gratitude.”
Not a single negative comment should be allowed in the Awesomeness group, be it from the leadership team or someone else. Remember that expressing recognition, appreciation, and gratitude is the whole point of forming this group in the first place.
8 “Once a week is too often for the ‘Spin the Wheel’ activity. Let’s make it once a month.”
Too often, I’ve seen Awesomeness groups go dead when the Spin the Wheel activity moves to a month. Human mind needs constant engagement. People should know that this is something they can look forward to every week, so that they will continue to participate without losing interest.
It may be more work, but weekly is really the best way to go.
9. “Everyone is being silent; they must not enjoy participating in the Awesomeness group anymore. We should shut it down.”
There will come a time when there will be hardly any posts in the Awesomeness group and people will stop taking the time to appreciate one another. This is bound to happen no matter what you do, so be ok with it. Don’t stop your weekly spins or your weekly encouragement. Even if you end up being the only person who posts, don’t lose heart. People will come back when they feel the need for that positive space that the Awesomeness group provides.
10.“Let’s not share photos of what the winners got for their awards.”
It may seem like too much to ask of people, to share a picture of what they got for their award.
But ask anyway. These photos bring us closer to our team members. We get to know about each other’s interests and appreciate both the differences and similarities between us.
You never know what your coworkers will decide to buy. For example, two people from my team actually bought books with their award money. Someone else bought things for their pets. Another person bought gifts for their children and mother. Seeing them with the gifts they chose was an engaging way to learn more and grow closer as teammates and friends.
Conclusion
Avoiding these mistakes mostly takes determination and perseverance. Never give up on your Awesomeness group. If you stand strong, over time you’ll find that you and your coworkers will reap all the benefits that come with expressing appreciation and lifting each other up.
