Do you celebrate your organization's accomplishments? Here are some easy and fairly obvious events that take place during the year that are worthy of applause and cheer.
1) Numbers: Have you reached an important numeric milestone, i.e., number of checkouts, number of people who have come into the building (gate count); instruction sessions taught; reference/research questions answered; etc.? Have a celebration of some sort and be sure to include the members of larger community. Honor the person who was the <n> to enter the building or who had the <x> checkout or who asked the <y> reference/research question.
2) Projects: These happen all the time, right? Fiscal close? Organizational self-study/program review efforts? Web page redesign? A major (or minor) shift of the collection? Celebrate the successful completion of the project in some manner, honor the people who participated and savor a job well done. (If the project is a long one, don't wait until the conclusion to acknowledge the effort - offer support, good cheer and encouragement along the way - think of these as oasis stops on a trip across the desert!)
3) No reason at All: Sometimes there doesn't have to be an explicit reason to celebrate one another. As my dad reminds me, it is not the flowers he brings to my mom on the days she expects them that especially wow her as much as the unexpected flowers he brings just to say "I love you." There is no reason not to do this at work and surprise and honor your colleagues and co-workers.
As with fun in the workplace, it is less important to celebrate one another every day as it is to make celebration of accomplishments - personal and organizational - a part of the organizational culture.
It is like my mom's chicken soup - it couldn't hurt!
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