What is Team Recognition?
Team Recognition helps you build a culture of appreciation by making it easy to acknowledge team members' contributions, celebrate wins, and foster positive team dynamics. Recognition creates a positive feedback loop that boosts morale, engagement, and retention.
Why Recognition Matters: Research shows that regular peer recognition increases employee engagement by 60% and reduces turnover. Sizemotion makes it effortless to create a culture of appreciation across your entire organization.
Key Benefits
- Boost Morale: Regular recognition improves team happiness and motivation
- Reinforce Values: Highlight behaviors that align with company culture
- Peer-to-Peer: Enable team members to recognize each other directly
- Visibility: Share achievements at team and organization levels
- Track Impact: See recognition trends and participation stats
- Easy Access: Integrated into your workflow, accessible anywhere
Giving Recognition
Navigate to Recognition in the main sidebar or access it from the Team Workspace dashboard.
How to Give Recognition
- Click the "Give Recognition" button
- Select a team member to recognize from the dropdown (you can't recognize yourself)
- Choose a recognition type that best fits the occasion
- Write a meaningful message (10-1000 characters)
- Click "Send Recognition"
Pro Tip: The best recognition is specific, timely, and genuine. Instead of "Great job," explain exactly what they did well and why it mattered to the team or project.
Recognition Requirements
To ensure quality recognition:
- Minimum 10 characters: Encourages meaningful messages
- Maximum 1000 characters: Keeps recognition concise
- Team members only: Can only recognize people in your current team
- No self-recognition: Recognition comes from others
Recognition Types
Choose from six recognition types to match different situations:
Kudos
General appreciation for good work, helpfulness, or positive attitude.
Thank You
Express gratitude for support, collaboration, or going the extra mile.
Great Work
Acknowledge exceptional quality, outstanding results, or job well done.
Celebration
Celebrate milestones, project completions, or major achievements.
Team Player
Recognize collaboration, helping others, or strong teamwork.
Leadership
Highlight mentorship, initiative, or leading by example.
Viewing Recognitions
Access all recognitions through the Recognition page in the main navigation.
Recognition Feed
The main recognition page shows:
- Sender and recipient photos: Visual flow showing who recognized whom
- Recognition type badge: Quickly identify the type of recognition
- Message content: The full recognition message
- Timestamp: When the recognition was given (e.g., "2 hours ago")
- Delete option: Available to the sender or admins
Recognition Stats
At the top of the page, you'll see three key metrics:
- Total Recognitions: All recognitions in the selected scope and period
- You Received: Recognition you've received from others
- You Sent: Recognition you've given to team members
Filtering & Stats
Customize your view with powerful filtering options.
Scope Filters
Switch between two visibility modes:
- My Team: See only recognitions within your current team
- All Teams: View recognitions across the entire organization
Time Period Filters
Filter recognitions by time range:
- Last 7 days: Recent recognition activity
- Last 30 days: Current month overview (default)
- Last 90 days: Quarterly trends and patterns
Track Trends: Use the 90-day view to identify recognition patterns, see who's actively participating, and understand your team's appreciation culture over time.
Understanding the Stats
Recognition statistics help you:
- Monitor team engagement and participation
- Identify highly recognized team members
- Track your own giving and receiving patterns
- Spot teams or individuals who might need more appreciation
Managing Recognitions
Keep your recognition feed clean and appropriate.
Deleting Recognitions
You can delete a recognition if:
- You are the person who sent it (made a mistake, want to rewrite)
- You are an account admin (moderation purposes)
To delete: Click the trash icon on the recognition card and confirm the action. Note: This action cannot be undone.
Deletion Policy: Only delete recognitions if absolutely necessary. Recognitions are meant to be a positive, permanent record of appreciation. Use deletion sparingly and thoughtfully.
Admin Controls
Account administrators can:
- Delete any recognition (for moderation)
- View organization-wide recognition stats
- Track participation across all teams
- Encourage teams with low recognition activity
Best Practices
Get the most value from team recognition by following these proven practices.
Writing Great Recognition
- Be Specific: "Thanks for debugging that production issue on Friday evening. Your quick thinking saved our weekend deployment."
- Explain Impact: "Your design revisions made the user flow so much clearer. We've already seen a 20% increase in conversion."
- Be Timely: Recognize contributions soon after they happen while they're fresh in everyone's minds.
- Highlight Values: Connect recognition to company values: "Your transparency in sharing that mistake helped the whole team learn."
What to Avoid
- Generic Praise: Avoid vague messages like "Good job" or "Thanks" without context.
- Backhanded Compliments: Keep recognition purely positive. No "but" statements or hidden criticism.
- Favoritism: Recognize contributions fairly across all team members, not just the same people.
Building a Recognition Culture
- Lead by Example: Managers and leaders should actively give recognition
- Make it Regular: Aim to recognize at least one person per week
- Encourage Peers: Foster peer-to-peer recognition, not just top-down
- Celebrate Publicly: Share recognitions in team meetings or channels
- Track Progress: Review recognition stats regularly to ensure broad participation
Recognition Goal: Teams with the highest engagement typically see 3-5 recognitions per person per month. Set a team goal and track your progress!
Dashboard Widget
Recent recognitions appear on the Team Workspace dashboard for quick visibility.
Dashboard Features
- Recent Activity: See the 3 most recent team recognitions (last 7 days)
- Quick Overview: View sender, recipient, type, and message preview
- Direct Access: Click "View All" to see the full recognition page
- One-Click Give: "Give Recognition" button for quick access
Dashboard Visibility: The recognition widget helps keep appreciation visible and top-of-mind. If no recent recognitions exist, it encourages team members to be the first to give recognition.
Empty State
When your team hasn't given any recognitions recently, the dashboard shows an encouraging empty state with a call-to-action to start building your recognition culture.
Next Steps
- Give your first recognition
- Learn about 1:1 meetings to provide deeper feedback
- Read about Team Organization for managing your team structure