# Appreciations

Participants draft brief notes acknowledging a peer's specific action and its positive result, then deliver them directly in round-robin turns while recipients listen and accept without deflection.

**Time:** 20 minutes. Matches the 20-minute allocation in source evidence for a small team round-robin.
**People:** 3 to 24. Single circle of 3 to 6 participants, or divide larger groups into parallel small circles of 3 to 6 participants

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** State concrete colleague contributions and practical results aloud without debate or deflection.
**Use it when:** At the close of an intact team project, retrospective, or retreat where colleagues have observable shared history.
**Skip it when:** When group members do not know each other, or during active, unaddressed interpersonal grievances.

## Materials and tools

- 1 notepad or sheet of scratch paper per person
- 1 pen or pencil per person

## Before participants arrive

1. Arrange chairs in a closed circle or around a table where everyone has direct sight lines. For larger groups, arrange separate seating clusters of 3 to 6 chairs.
2. Distribute one sheet of paper and one pen to each seat.

## Say this to open

We are going to take time to acknowledge each other's work. Appreciations work best when they focus on a concrete action and the result it created for you or the team. Your formula is: 'I appreciate that you did X. Because you did that, the result was Y.' When someone appreciates you, your only job is to receive it and say 'Thank you' or nod. Please do not deflect, debate, or return a compliment in that moment.

## How to run it

### 1. Introduce format and ground rules (2 minutes)

Speak the opening script. Post the two-part prompt formula: 'I appreciate that you did [action]. Because of that, [result].' Give a neutral example: 'Sam, I appreciate that you summarized the action items after Tuesday's meeting. Because you did that, I knew exactly which client files to update that afternoon.' Emphasize that notes are private scratchpads and recipients only say 'Thank you.'

### 2. Write private drafts (5 minutes)

Ask participants to work silently for 5 minutes. Direct each person to write one brief note for every other person in their small group following the formula. Remind them these notes are memory aids and will not be collected.

### 3. Deliver round-robin appreciations (10 minutes)

Designate the first recipient in each circle. Starting with the person seated to the recipient's left and proceeding clockwise, each other member speaks one appreciation directly to that recipient. The recipient listens and says 'Thank you.' Once everyone in the group has spoken to the first recipient, designate the person to the left as the next recipient. Repeat until everyone has received appreciations from all peers in their circle.

### 4. Brief closing debrief (3 minutes)

Conclude the speaking rounds. Invite 2 or 3 brief reflections from the whole room on what it was like to receive specific feedback without deflecting.


## Debrief questions

- What was it like to simply receive an appreciation with only a 'thank you'?
- How did framing the comment around a specific result change what you noticed about your peer's work?

**Finished output:** Every participant speaks one specific appreciation to each peer in their circle and receives specific feedback in return.

## Remote

Run in video meeting software with all cameras on. For up to 6 people, stay in the main room; for larger groups, assign breakout rooms of 3 to 6 participants. Post the prompt formula and a numbered participant roster in chat for each group. Use that roster order for delivery: Person 1 is the first recipient, and the other members speak to Person 1 in roster sequence. Then Person 2 becomes the recipient, repeating until everyone receives their turns. During the 5-minute writing block, keep cameras on and mics muted.

## Hybrid

If total attendance is 6 or fewer, maintain a single group with remote participants on a shared room screen. For larger groups, form parallel hybrid clusters of 3 to 6 people, with remote members assigned to specific table tablets or breakout pods. Post a unified roster for each cluster in chat and on table displays. Within each cluster, follow that roster sequence for delivery: Person 1 serves as recipient, and all other cluster members speak to them in roster order before rotating to the next recipient.

## Access and participation choices

- Participants may pass on delivering an appreciation to a specific individual without giving a reason by nodding or stating pass.
- Participants may type appreciations into chat or share a written slip instead of speaking aloud.

## If the session gets stuck

**A recipient immediately deflects praise or starts justifying why it was no big deal.**

Gently interrupt and remind them: 'Remember, your only job right now is to let it land and say thank you.'

**Appreciations become vague flattery, such as 'You are just so great to work with.'**

Pause the round and redirect the group back to the template: 'Anchor it to a specific task or moment, and tell us the concrete result it produced.'


## Sources and adaptation

Observed in Teampedia (wiki article 'Appreciations', revision October 2015).

Retained the defining mechanic from Teampedia: private prep notes, two-part structure ('action + result'), receiver only says 'thank you', and round-robin delivery around a circle. UWT specified group size to cap at 6 per circle to keep round-robin math viable within 20 minutes (30 total exchanges at 15 to 20 seconds each fits comfortably inside 10 minutes), added explicit time allocations per step, pass rules, clockwise speaking order starting to the recipient's left, and parallel hybrid cluster protocols.

[www.teampedia.net](http://www.teampedia.net/wiki/Appreciations)

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/appreciations/