Recognizing and rewarding the achievements of your team members is an important way to keep them motivated. Unless your group already has a recognition program in place, this should be one of your top priorities. Recognition can range from the symbolic (certificates, traveling trophies) to the tangible (movie coupons, restaurant gift certificates, cash bonuses, company stock). Presenting recognition of some kind says "Thanks for what you did to help" or "Congratulations on reaching that milestone." Investing a small amount of thought and money in a recognition program buys a lot of goodwill and future cooperation. Also remember to recognize people outside the development group, including customer representatives and support staff who contribute in special ways to the project’s success.
Talk with your team members to understand the sorts of recognition and rewards they find meaningful. Make recognition events for achievements large and small a standard component of your team culture. Also practice the implicit recognition of showing sincere interest in the work being done by each team member and doing all you can to remove obstacles to their effectiveness. Recognition is one way to demonstrate to your team members—and to others outside your group—that you are aware of and appreciate the contributions they make to the success of the team.
I once gave a presentation on creating a software engineering culture at a company. I asked how many of the 70 attendees worked in an organization with a recognition program. Few of them raised their hands. At the next break, a woman came up to me and whispered, "I’m in our Human Resources Department. They all have a recognition program." I whispered back, "It’s not working." If the team members aren’t even aware that the recognition program exists, it can hardly be meaningful or motivating.
