Most of the work done in home offices remains abstract. The result of any office work cannot be measured in tons, centimeters or liters. This was the case even before the pandemic. So how do you experience appreciation for your own work? And then over a distance, i.e. digitally? The equation used to be: abstract work - concrete, analog appreciation. Today, both are digital and abstract. How can managers show genuine appreciation despite all this?

Be aware of your responsibility

Even if we juggle with bits and bytes: Our key influencing factor is people. Or as Simon Sinek puts it: "Leadership is not about being in charge. Leadership is about taking care of those in your charge."

In other words: "Leadership is not about being in charge. Leadership is about taking care of those in your charge." Managers do not bear abstract responsibility for a theoretical matter, for product development or profit maximization, but for the people who work on these issues.

This is about a manager's self-image: are my people there to ensure that I ultimately achieve good results in my area? Or am I there to ensure that my people ultimately contribute good results to our area?

Classic servant leadership.

"A leader who cheers on the people around them by giving specific praise for things done right is a leader who will win the hearts of others and accomplish great things," says Ken Blanchard, leadership guru from the USA and developer of several key leadership concepts in recent decades. Something is already crystallizing here that needs to be done: give concrete praise.

How to give recognition in the digital space

Now there is another possible option with regard to pure performance: expressing criticism. This is also important. Recognition does not only consist of constant praise. If the praise is not backed up by a classifying criticism because it simply does not take place, then the praise is worth nothing. The same applies vice versa: if constant criticism is not accompanied by praise, then the criticism is worth nothing.

A realistic, benevolent structure of recognition is therefore needed. Criticism, on the other hand, should be formulated in a digestible way: we can cope better with 'you could do better' than 'you've messed up again'.

If we follow the idea of how we can best use recognition constructively, we soon come to the question of what else people need. We often give recognition in direct interaction between door and door, in the hallway, at the coffee machine - in other words, mostly in between and in passing.

Focusing on the employee

Doors and hinges, corridors and coffee machines have become lonely places in digital times, where we no longer meet anyone seeking recognition. So we need new formats, new opportunities. Therefore:

What opportunity do you have as a manager to give recognition? Make it very specific for each individual member of your team. Where do you meet the person and how? What opportunities does the current setting give you? Face-to-face? Telephone? Video conference for two? Video conference in a team? Telephone call? By e-mail? And how do you organize your team meetings? Are there fixed time slots for personal matters?

Ask yourself: Which format is suitable for this particular person? Don't primarily ask yourself which format is suitable for you - ask about the situation that is ideal for the recipient.

Can't find a good situation in the current setting? Well, then you have two options to choose from: Either you create such a situation, or you create a vacuum. A vacuum in which nothing can grow and flourish, but a lot can pass away.

Be courageous: create recognition formats! Take care of the people who have been put in your charge! They will thank you for it.

The author

Martin Kruse, Leadership Choices.

© Leadership Choices

Martin Kruse has been coaching executives and managers for many years and has been a partner at Leadership Choices, an international coaching organization, since 2019.