How about a Thanksgiving Day for your business? 6 ideas to get it done

Today is Thanksgiving Day in the United States of America. It’s the one holiday that all Americans revere. I note the joy that this holiday brings as families gather, many travelling long distances, to dine together (yes, perhaps too much, but that’s an important part of it), to commune with each other and to catch up on each other’s lives. From year to year, some have transitioned and new ones are born. Changes there are, but the family prevails. It’s a happy time, despite everyone eating too much and all the dysfunctions of the family in full bloom.

Gratitude works at work too!  This Fast Company article (Click HERE) identifies  3 benefits of gratitude to organisations, based on research:

1. It improves corporate culture
2. It strengthens teams
3. It’s a better motivator than money

I concur, based on my own experience in running and advising businesses.  On a personal level, I have learned from over a decade of daily gratitude journalling that what you appreciate and give thanks for, you get more of. Is it surprising that nations that have national Thanksgiving Days are more prosperous?  So I got to thinking that if nations can have a special day to give thanks, why not an annual Thanksgiving Day for your business? No I don’t mean a Customer Appreciation Day, or an Employee Fun day. I mean a work day when everyone in your organisation gives sincere and authentic gratitude for everything.

What might this look like?

1. Start the day with everyone gathering together and each person sharing their gratitude for something about the business or organization.
2. Throughout the day, team members would express their gratitude to each other, to customers, suppliers and anyone with whom they have contact – yes, even if the taxman came a-calling!
3. All over the work areas would be posters with appreciative words and sayings to keep team members focused.
4. Communal dining at lunch, with each person contributing, as an expression of their own gratitude.
5. A gratitude wall for team members to write appreciation and gratitude would become a lasting record of the day.
6. At the end of the day, everyone leaves not just with a “Goodbye, see you tomorrow” but with a simple “Thank you for being my co-worker.”

How do you start? 4 easy steps:

1. Decide to do it.
2. Choose a random day and designate it your Thanksgiving Day. There doesn’t need to be a justification for that day – any work day will do.
3. Get your team involved in planning, but don’t make it too complicated. Keep it simple and fun.
4. Just do it.

Do let us know what happens!  And make every day a Happy Thanksgiving Day!

And here are some other similar blogs by Marguerite:

Celebrate! – click HERE to view article
How to live gratitude just for a moment – click HERE to view article
Gratitude is a discipline – click HERE to view article
How to be happy at work – click HERE to view article