Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

When your team of employees accomplishes something impressive, it’s a good idea to take the time to celebrate. Celebrating big wins with the team increases morale, provides employees with rewards for their hard work, and can encourage more productivity in the future.

So how do you do it?

Celebration Ideas

These are some of the best ways to celebrate wins with your team:

·       Distribute bonuses. One of the most straightforward ways to show your appreciation is to distribute some kind of bonus. Depending on your budget and the nature of your team, that could mean a cash bonus, gift cards to local restaurants, or even special privileges for individual employees. The point is to surprise employees with something tangible and useful that they can use to better their lives in some way. The only downside is that this doesn’t provide much interaction potential, so if you’re looking to bond with your team, consider something different.

·       Host a lunch or dinner. Another simple option is to host a lunch or dinner with your team, which should provide you with a cost-efficient platform and plenty of opportunities for interaction. Even better, this option can work for almost any type of business; small startups can get by with team potlucks, while larger corporations can bring the entire team to a fancy restaurant.

·       Upgrade the office. Instead of distributing bonuses to employees directly, consider using the money to upgrade the office. A nicer break room, better parking spaces, or other upgrades can instantly make your work environment more pleasant and rewarding for your team.

·       Take a bus somewhere fun. With a private charter bus, you can go almost anywhere and do almost anything. You can take the team to an escape room, bring them out for cocktails, or even take them to a casino for a bit of gambling. If your team has truly exceeded expectations, you can even use a private charter bus to take them on a mini vacation.

·       Create gift packages. You can also consider creating gift baskets or similar packages for your employees. These collections of items are fun to go through – and the possibilities for what you can include are almost limitless.

·       Give shoutouts. If you don’t have the budget for some of these options, or if you just want an extra way to show gratitude, consider giving shoutouts to your top performing employees on social media and via e-mail newsletters. Most people appreciate the public recognition.

Parameters for Success

If you want to be successful with your team celebration ideas, these are some of your most important parameters for success.

·       Genuine interest and value. You can’t sell a product without doing market research and better understanding your specific audience – and you can’t sell a workplace celebration without working to understand what your team members like and value. Before choosing a type of celebration or a type of gift for your team members, make sure you understand what they like and what they’re going to respond to. You may love the idea of going to an escape room or solving a murder mystery with your people, but they may feel differently.

·       Opportunities for bonding. Generally, celebrations are more valuable when you work in an element of teambuilding. Any rewards you distribute should provide opportunities were the individuals on your team to meet each other, get to know each other, and truly engage with each other.

·       Public visibility. For best results, consider making your rewards as publicly visible as possible. That could mean announcing to the entire company what the rewards are and who received them via email. It could mean giving more shoutouts on social media. It could even mean submitting a press release detailing the nature of your recent wins. Making the rewards more public encourages other employees in your organization to work harder on their existing projects; it can also be good for your brand reputation overall.

·       Future possibilities. Pay attention to how your employees respond to your planned celebrations and brainstorm about future possibilities. What get your employees excited? What have been their favorite teambuilding events so far?

·       Cost efficiency. Teambuilding events are often valuable, but they also tend to be expensive. Accordingly, you’ll need to think about the cost efficiency of all your rewards and events. For some celebrations, you’ll be perfectly justified in splurging; for others, you should rein in your spending.

There’s a lot to think about when planning rewards and celebrations with your team, but at the end of the day, any celebration is better than no celebration. Anything you do to boost morale and inspire productivity in your team is going to be worthwhile, so get started with a morale-boosting strategy as soon as possible.