An author’s work is never done

“The past, for everyone, is full of missed chances.” 

– Humanitarian, Le Ly Hayslip

While it may not be politically correct, the adage, “A woman’s work is never done,” is a useful starting point for a discussion of what’s not in my new book, Thanks, Again! More Simple, Inexpensive Ways for Busy Leaders to Recognize Staff.

No sooner than the manuscript is placed in the hands of the publisher, its author begins to discover more information that should be in the book; but it’s too late.

When this happened just after I had signed off on the final version of Thanks, Again!, I recalled the words of the late Dan Poynter, who travelled the world providing advice to would-be authors.

“Your book will never include everything it could,” the guru of self-publishing said, during one of our conversations. “Think of your book as being 85 per cent complete. You will always discover information that could be added. That’s for the second edition.”

Right now, it’s hard to think about a second edition when we are still weeks away from the fall launch of Thanks, Again!

But if someday there is a second edition, one addition will be references to Humor, Seriously: Why Humor Is a Secret Weapon in Business and Life, by Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas, both of whom teach at Stanford Graduate School of Business. 

Their words would be a valuable addition to my book’s Theme #14: Important? Certainly, But Recognition Can Be Fun, Too.

Humour has a place in staff recognition. Fun recognition that generates smiles and laughter has a positive impact on the workplace. It helps build relationships and boost morale. Having fun at work increases engagement.

“Unexpected, playful moments of praise or recognition can often be more meaningful than ‘official’ ones because they signal that someone is not only paying attention to what we’re doing well, but cares enough to go out of their way to celebrate it,” Aaker and Bagdonas write.

In this one sentence, Aaker and Bagdonas indirectly acknowledged that at least three ingredients of meaningful recognition (identified in my acronym GREAT) are part of humorous recognition. 

Fun recognition is meaningful because it is Genuine—motivated by a sincere sense of appreciation for what someone did. By “paying attention” to what people are doing, we are preparing ourselves to provide Explicit (i.e., specific) recognition. Recognition that is Appropriate depends on “caring enough” to find ways to recognize individuals that reflect who they are, their interests and their recognition preferences.

It’s important that you know staff members as individuals when humour is part of your staff recognition practices.

The theme about fun in Thanks, Again! is one of the longest in the book. Yet not everything that’s suggested—much of it depends on puns that make you laugh or groan—will work for everyone.

Referring to workplace humour, Aaker and Bagdonas caution, “What we find funny—or appropriate—is far from universal. There are a whole lot of gray areas when it comes to humor.”

In Thanks, Again!, the theme filled with fun ways to recognize staff ends with three serious points:

• Humour can be risky. What some staff enjoy as a fun award may not be Appropriate for others. Know your staff.
• Humour based on ridicule or bullying has no place in staff recognition.
• Be aware that staff members for whom English is a second language may not understand humour that depends on puns for its effect and could take unintended offence.

When humour fails, you need to do what some people find difficult to do—offer a sincere apology.

“When humor fails or offends, it can be tempting to brush it off as the other person’s problem—‘he didn’t get the joke’ or ‘she’s being too sensitive’—instead of stopping to consider how it might be our problem,” Aaker and Bagdonas write. “In these moments, lean in: trust their reaction, understand and acknowledge your mistake, reflect on your blind spots and make it right.”

If only I had known about Humor, Seriously before I finished writing Thanks, Again!, I might be able to say, “My book is 85.75 per cent complete.”

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Theme #14: Important? Certainly, But Recognition Can Be Fun, Too is just one of 30 themes included in Thanks, Again!. There is alsoa Bonus Section with at least 101 more thoughts, tips, tools and techniques that didn’t fit any of the themes but were too good to leave out.

Click here to discover some of the other themes and how you can be among the first to receive an autographed copy of Thanks, Again! before its official launch in the fall.