Do This To Deliver A High Return On Investment Without Spending A Dime

I arrived in the Brazilian rainforest eager to teach a group of field construction managers how to transform their team’s productivity on a mega project. I was wide awake after having discovered earlier that morning that the shower was equipped with only cold water. Talk about invigorating! Whew!

One by one the thirty two team members arrived, fueled with strong, delicious Brazilian coffee and took their seats in the open air conference room. Birds flew in and out of the room. Outside was lush green foliage. It was a beautiful, peaceful setting. Certainly unlike the conference rooms I was accustomed to speaking and facilitating in.  

I would be with this team for three days. As we got ready to start, the team members glanced around the room a bit nervously. They had never been to any kind of personal development session before. And none of them had ever met me. They didn’t have any idea what to expect. They looked at me and smiled. That was a good sign. I thought to myself, at least they’re smiling.

I didn’t speak Portuguese, so naturally my client had retained an interpreter to assist me. I had tried learning Portuguese. I had listened to tapes, read books, and even hired a private tutor. But despite my valiant efforts, I failed miserably. Unlike my dear Brazilian friend, Myriam, who speaks six languages fluently, I discovered that learning foreign languages clearly isn’t my thing. (I can sing so I figure that makes up for my deficiencies in foreign languages.) And likewise, those thirty two men participating in my session didn’t speak a word of English.

For three full days, I spoke in English, and then paused so the interpreter could repeat, in Portuguese, what I had just said. Now, when I’m facilitating and teaching people how to improve productivity with communication, collaboration and recognition, I’m quite passionate and animated. My voice varies as I get excited and I wave my arms and use my hands a lot. 

For three full days, the interpreter did just as I did - speaking excitedly when I did, speaking softly when I did and gesturing with his arms and hands just as I did. He appeared to be enjoying what he was doing. I imagine it was quite different from what he was usually interpreting.

By all meaningful measures, it was a successful session. At the end of those three days, the team members’ smiles were bigger and I got plenty of handshakes and hugs from the participants as they departed to go back to the jobsite. 

After everyone, except my client and the interpreter had left, the interpreter turned to me and said, “So, Sally, how did I do?” 

I burst out laughing and said “I have no idea! I don’t know a word you said! I’m just hoping you told them what I was saying and that you didn’t tell them I was giving them all a promotion and tripling their salary!” When he realized his question, and remembered that I didn’t know any Portuguese, we all three got a good laugh. 

The interpreter had invested his time, his expertise, and his energy into delivering my message just as I had. And just as I had taught during those three days about people needing recognition, he too needed recognition for the job he had done. 

Here’s the thing. Everybody needs recognition! And, recognition is absolutely free. It doesn’t cost you a dime to tell someone that they did a great job on something or to let someone know that you are grateful for their contributions to the team. A simple thank you also goes a long way!

Recognition has a high return on investment. It costs you nothing to provide it and in turn, research shows that 90% of the people receiving recognition will work harder and perform their job at a higher level of performance over a long period of time. 

Sadly, many people go years without getting any recognition for the great job they are doing. How sad is that?

Who on your immediate, or extended, team needs recognition right now? Be sure to download The Recognition Planner. It’s a resource I put together to help you take action on this. 

Recognize someone today, and every day. You’ll be glad you did!