“At my organization, we celebrate project successes in many different ways throughout the implementation life cycle. We recognize successful projects often involve incremental accomplishments through collaborative effort. So it's important to reward success as it occurs and promote ongoing camaraderie. For instance, during design and test sessions, holding dinners for our implementation and client teams builds rapport. At the conclusion of a successful project, rewards and recognitions such as gift cards, promotional gifts and inclusion in our newsletter are leveraged to acknowledge our team members. Celebrating success leads to associate satisfaction and builds team confidence.”
—Yolonda Swain, PMP, implementation engagement leader, ADP, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
SNAPSHOT OF SUCCESS
“Celebrating project success ensures all team members know their work is valued and that we've touched our customers’ lives. The first way I celebrate is to thank all team members for the effort they put into the project. But that's just a start. Sometimes we get together to eat a cake or have a barbecue and some beers—especially if project delivery was a bit stressful. And taking a project team selfie has become an enjoyable must-have.”
—Jesus Vazquez, PMP, retail systems manager, GNC Mexico, Monterrey, Mexico
MOTIVATING FACTORS
“Our team shares drinks after a successful sprint demo. But we also celebrate with a meal the following week where we can run ‘lunch and learn’ sessions. We found that engagement was at its peak during sprint demos, as the team enjoyed showing the business what they had learned, achieved and improved on the product. By extending this to lunch and learn sessions, software engineers especially can share what they've learned with other development teams in the business. This allows them to present on a more technical level and gather helpful technical feedback. We found that these celebratory gatherings really motivate the team to proudly show off their achievements while gaining valuable insight for the next sprint. And we're all rewarded with a little bit of fun.”
—Christie Plumb, software project manager, Ticketmaster, London, England
GROWTH PATTERN
“Celebration is pivotal for acknowledging the team efforts and commitment that contributed to the project—even if it wasn't a complete success—because it contributes to maturity. The most fruitful celebration strategy I have experienced is an informal half-day outdoor team activity followed by lunch or dinner. The activity focuses on areas that I think can be improved to ensure better project outcomes in the future.
For instance, during a very difficult and complex three-phase project last year, I decided to take the team paragliding to celebrate the completion of the first phase. I wanted to show them they could do something that might scare them—if we gather our courage. Eventually, we all flew independently. The next six months of the project were tough, but the confidence and positive attitude we built from paragliding helped us deliver the project successfully—in time and on budget with better quality than expected.”
—Muhammad Altaf, PMP, senior manager, insights and data, Capgemini, Melbourne, Australia
ICING ON THE CAKE
“When our team reaches a major milestone, I bake a cake and then draw little pictures with colored icing specific to the milestone. My art skills are primary-school level at best, so the team looks forward to seeing what I come up with. We'll usually eat the cake during lunch or ahead of a happy hour gathering. It helps us celebrate the progress and align on what's next. We lay out clear goals on what needs to be done before I bake the next delicious cake.”
—Jason Orloske, PMP, project manager, Aldevron, Fargo, North Dakota, USA
Rewarding Experience
How do you celebrate project milestones to build team unity? Share your best advice on the PMI Project, Program and Portfolio Management LinkedIn Group.
Better Together
Workplace engagement improves production. But an overwhelming majority of the world's employees see a need to build more team unity.
147% Rate at which companies with highly engaged workforces outperform their peers (in earnings per share).
48% of U.S. employees say management's recognition of job performance is very important to job satisfaction.
Bonding Breakdown
How employees rate their workplace engagement level:
Sources: Gallup; Society for Human Resource Management; 2016 Trends in Global Employee Engagement, Aon Hewitt
