What is appropriate for thanking resources?

[Prothios]

I'm new to the profession, and have recently completed my first project. I'm curious as to what is reasonable for thanking the individuals who were part of the core team. I've thought of having pens made (with the project name), or even certificates of appreciation.

What is reasonable in regards to thanking those who made the project a success?

 

[PDQBach]

I don't know if I can tell you the best gift ... but I can suggest some items to consider.

1. Corporate practice. If end-of-project gifts have been used in the past then this is a good guideline. If they haven't then look at the reason you are handing stuff out.

2. Reason. Are you rewarding participation? Or contribution? If it's participation then something with the corporate logo and a reference to the project is fine. If it's contribution then you'll need to be careful that you reward the group not individuals (that's what the annual review does). If you're rewarding the group then you'll need to consider the budget.

3. Budget. My experience on numerous projects has been "the cost of a nice dinner with beverages". Note "nice", not "top of the line". You don't have to do the dinner but the value of the gift should approximate the cost of the dinner.

4. Acknowledgement. By far, the best recognition is the President of the company publicly acknowledging the participants. A broadcast email won't cut it. A letter outside the cafeteria won't cut it either. It needs to be a formal or informal gathering with the President publicly acknowledging the team (not just the PM and Senior Managers). In one case, the President gathered everyone on the floor around, then stood on a desk and made his brief speech.

Something to think about.

 

[Prothios]

In response to each:

1. There does not appear to be much of a corporate practice. (The organization is just starting to move from a vertical functional based structure).

2. The organization is experiencing organizational change on many levels, which is pressuring a lot of the resources to do more than what is normally expected. I wanted to show that I was not expecting work without being thankful for it.

3. As far as budget goes, I'm planning to pay for the items myself - I do not have a lot of money to spend, but would like to give something that shows my appreciation.

4. The project pushed through changes that were not being addressed; Upper management saw the project as a means to address those changes which the resources 'should have' accomplished themselves - I doubt I would have buyin to some sort of appreciation from upper management. While they did not meet previous expectations, they met my expections within the project plan. For that I am thankful.

I've been reading these forums for a while, your responses are always well done and thought provoking!

 

[PDQBach]

With this additional information ... I've done on two occasions something similar (out of my pocket) what you are doing now.

From your second statement, it appears that you're doing this up front. This is a good idea to develop the "team mentality". In this case, I think what you're looking for is something for a team-identification. The trick is to avoid tchotchkes and to try to come up with something that is appropriate at the corporate, project and "usefulness" level as well as doing the "team building" thing. I was with a consulting organization where we once set up a laser-tag day. We got permission for everyone to take the afternoon off and we had it set up for matches between management and everyone else; the consultants and the company; a free-for-all. About a week before we did it, the project was cancelled.

From your fourth statement, it seems that this is coming at the end. In this case, you are already a team and the objective is to commemorate the success (and even the worst project has some successes) of the endeavour. In this case, I'd do the dinner. Since it's on your tab, you pick up the cost of the food and the individuals pay for their drinks.

As an alternative (I'm not sure where you are so it could be summer or winter!) you might want to consider a catered barbeque. You could do it at your place, or in a local park (attendees could bring their families) or at the boss's house (it would be a good idea to clear it with him first!). The advantage of the park is that it will almost certainly be non-alcoholic -- the disadvantage is that you'll need to arrange for permits and you'll also want to think about a rain date. The advantage of the boss's house is that it's his back yard that needs to be set up (not yours!) -- the disadvantage is that alcohol will probably be present.

If you are doing the catered barbeque, try to move up from simple burgers and hot dogs -- perhaps something like meat skewers (different meats and different sauces). You can also do veggie/fruit skewers for vegetarians.

Thank you, too, for your kind words.

 

[Prothios]

Thank you for your response; The project is complete, and the fun wrench is that we are in a virtualized environment, with the resources located around the globe.

Thank you for your responses!

 

[PDQBach]

In that case ... hold the bbq at the boss's house and get a vid cam hook up from each of the various locations. Maybe you could choose some item and FedEx them in packages to the locations and then, simultaneously, open the packages. Perhaps you could share some recipes so that each group is eating food from some/all the different work sites (I'm just trying to find something to play off on the separate locations).

On a recent project, we had staff literally on opposite sides of the globe: a 12-hour time difference. We didn't do a party thing but I wish we had (I wasn't the PM).

Come on, you others reading this exchange. Give up some ideas!

 

[A0C61ZZ]

Since all of you are spread across the globe, chances of you having seen each other (or being face-to-face) are real slim.

Some ideas
1. Collect pictures from each individual and create a small album (or flyer or a fancy card with a short story and their pictures) and send it to them.
2. The card can have some small one-liners about the project in terms of milestones/successes/leasons learned which could "add value" to the team.
3. If people are from diverse cultures, you can put some greetings or one-liners in different languages to emphasize the cross-cultural nature of your team.


If you are a PRO in one of the graphics packages you could do it yourself (which will address your budget issue & give it a personal touch).

Another idea (borrowing cue from PDQBach) invite them for an online game or party portal.