Award Show

A Distributed Work Tool

Team members present each other awards by holding up an object and naming it, such as the Super Creative Award or the Always Focused Award.

The purpose of the experience is bring joy and acknowledgment.

Basic Version

Each person is pre-assigned one person on the team to whom they will present an award that’s unique to that recipient.

The first person to present holds up an object, such as a trophy, an action figure, artwork, a book, and then names the award in reference to the object, for example, the Victory Award, the Superhero Award, the Designer Award, the Smarty Award. They acknowledge and praise the person they are giving the award to. 

The recipient gives a mini acceptance speech, and then they become the next person to give out an award.

Variations

Improv: No Pre-Assignment

When people arrive at a virtual meeting, they are assigned a person on the spot and asked to take 60 seconds to go find an object in their house to give as an award. This version is great for flexible teams and involves no prep time.

The Tweets Are Coming In

Possibly the best modification to a virtual Award Show is to leverage the chat function. When someone gets an award, everyone else types in the chat additional compliments as if they were live-tweeting at an award show.

The tweets in the chat can include statements like “This award is long overdue,” “Her work in Q3 was outstanding,” “I will never forget that presentation,” or “I could think of no award that captures his combination of calm and enthusiasm better.”

Team Award

Instead of giving awards to individuals, everyone gives the whole team an award. For instance, an award for collaboration, innovation, fun, or the best virtual happy hour.

Why This Works

A constraint and permission to get creative 

Award Show provides “constrained creativity.” Researchers often find that constraints lead people to produce better and more creative results. Here, the format focuses people on just one object and behavior. This can spark more creativity than simply asking people to “Acknowledge this person in some way.”

Additionally, since everyone is giving an award, there is a social norm around the behavior. This gives people permission to get creative within the framework, making them feel comfortable acknowledging their colleagues in deep and fun ways.