Words of Encouragement for Colleagues and Teachers
At work, encouragement has to survive being read on a phone between meetings. Name the specific thing, keep it to two lines, and send it to them rather than about them.
- Length
- Two lines. A long encouraging email at work reads as a performance review.
- Direct, not broadcast
- To them first. Copying in their manager turns a kindness into a transaction.
- The strongest version
- Name the thing you saw, not the quality you inferred. "The way you handled that call" beats "your great attitude".
Short, for a colleague having a bad week
- 1
Rough week. You are handling it better than it deserves.
- 2
For what it is worth, I think you called that right.
- 3
Shout if you want anything taken off you. I have got room today.
- 4
That was not your fault and I would say so in the room.
Naming what you actually saw
- 5
The way you handled that call was the best thing I saw all week.
- 6
You caught something four other people missed. That is worth saying out loud.
- 7
You stayed calm in that meeting when I would not have. I noticed and so did others.
Before something they are dreading
- 8
You are prepared. Go and do it.
- 9
You know this better than anyone in that room, including the people asking.
- 10
Good luck. Come and find me after and we will debrief it.
After something went badly
- 11
That was a bad outcome, not a bad decision. Those are different and it matters which one you take home.
- 12
It happened, it is done, and nobody sensible is still thinking about it.
- 13
If it comes up again I will say what I saw, which is that you did the reasonable thing.
For a new starter
- 14
Six weeks in and you are further along than most people are at six months.
- 15
Nobody expects you to know that yet. Ask me anything, including the obvious.
- 16
You are doing fine. The confusion is the job at this stage, not a sign of anything.
For a teacher
Term-time encouragement, from a colleague, a head, or a parent.
- 17
You had a hard class this year and they have come on enormously. That was you.
- 18
Thank you for what you did with the Year 9 group. It is not on any record anywhere, so I am putting it in writing.
- 19
Halfway through the term and you are still doing it properly. I know what that costs in February.
- 20
With thanks for your work this term, which has not gone unnoticed.
For a team, from a manager
Specific and brief. "Great work everyone" is heard as noise.
- 21
That was a genuinely hard month and you got through it without dropping anything. Thank you.
- 22
Thank you all for the last fortnight. I know exactly what it took and I am not taking it for granted.
- 23
We shipped it. Whatever happens next, that part was good work by everyone in this room.
Questions people actually ask
What do you say to encourage a coworker?
Name what you actually saw them do and keep it to two lines. Specific observations survive being read on a phone; general praise does not.
What do you write to encourage a teacher?
Name a class, a child or a term. Teachers are thanked in general constantly and specifically almost never, and it is the specific version that gets kept.
How do you encourage a team without sounding hollow?
Say what was hard about the period and what they did about it. "Great work everyone" is heard as noise because it could have been sent about any month.