We have post pandemic blues, Zoom fatigue, severe floods and fires, an unnecessary war (as are all wars), clueless politicians who consistently lie to us, and more people considering leaving their current job than ever before.

These are just a few of our challenges. It would be easy to be filled with fear, and doom and gloom.

I feel that this one of the truly great opportunities in history to reclaim our humanity and act accordingly.

All of the challenges mentioned dehumanise us. What if we focus on humanising everything we engage in?

A key is appreciation. It’s one of the six essentials of a human being centred workplace.

The eminent psychologist William James observed the following:

The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated.

So not just any old principle, the deepest!

One action you can take right now that enacts this deepest principle

Reflect on the people closest to you at home, at work, and the other places you go.

Write down these people’s names and one way you could show genuine appreciation to them in the next fortnight without any cost except that of your time and energy.

Go show appreciation without attachment to getting back.

Make this ritual part of your everyday life. And if you need any simple, practical help with this, do give me a shout.

A really big action you can take is to see accountability as the other side of the coin to appreciation.

Here’s a simple technique that I call The Double A Technique for appreciating people and helping others to be accountable

Ask: “How are things going?”

When you get a positive response:

Ask: “How does that make you feel?”

(be quiet and pay attention)

Then say, Great, Brilliant or whatever is appropriate.

Then ask: “Any other areas I can help you with?”

(be quiet and pay attention)

When you get a negative response

Ask: “What happened?” (be quiet and pay attention)

Then Ask: “What do you need to do to get back on track?”

(be quiet and pay attention)

Then Ask: “Is there anything I can do to help you?”

(be quiet and pay attention)

Finally, Ask: “Anything else?”

(be quiet and pay attention)

How could you do better in having appreciation and accountability conversations with your workmates?

There’s a 12 minutes and 32 seconds video here where I demonstrate this technique.

I can promise you this: become an expert at having appreciation and accountability conversations each day and optimum performance will follow.

Appreciation is one of eight heart qualities that the world needs now

Author: Ian Berry linkedin.com/in/ianberry1

Disclaimer

This article is part of the ME HR Contributor Series. The author is an expert in their field and contributes to ME HR & Learning. We are honored to feature and promote their contribution on our website. Please note that the author is not employed by ME HR and the opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect official views or opinions of ME HR.