Developing Culture Through Gratitude
28 October, 2019

VP of Product Management at SheerID
Problem
We were questioning what kind of place we wanted to work in and how to create a highly collaborative environment.
Actions taken
We modified a chat bot so that it has a command where you can thank a specific person instantaneously. Not only does it automatically thank them, but it also keeps track of 'karma' points which amount to a certain status level for each person based on how much others thanked them. People gain karma from helping others, telling good jokes, sharing helpful or funny articles, etc. Occasional banter centers around the number of points people have.
People also have the ability to reduce karma points. This is reserved for more humorous use, e.g. to "punish" the use of bad puns.
Lessons learned
- The culture supported this humorous interaction, which has a side benefit of showing appreciation for other people. It encourages and fosters a culture where collaboration is encouraged and there is a high level of appreciation for people's work.
- It seemed like a natural thing for developers and was more popular on the tech side than on the business side. Engineers like being recognized for their technical skill and knowledge.
- This shouldn't replace an in-person connection or public praise. However, some engineers are more introverted and uncomfortable giving or receiving praise in person. So not only is there more appreciation overall, you involve those who might otherwise shy away from it.
Discover Plato
Scale your coaching effort for your engineering and product teams
Develop yourself to become a stronger engineering / product leader
Related stories
6 February
Internal Hackathons invite team spirit and collaboration which are critical whether an engineering org is co-located or operating remotely spread across 20 times zones. Hackathons give employees the opportunity to connect and network while they solve fun & relevant challenges.

Balki Kodarapu
Senior Director of Engineering at SupportLogic
4 January
I was hired at HUMAN in 2021 to manage a team that went from hybrid to completely remote working environment because of COVID.

Ahsan Habib
VP Software Engineering at human
7 December
This is a brief comparison and contrast of Google and Facebook, as a place for one’s software engineering career. Both can be amazingly good places for engineering careers. But both places can be misfits for otherwise excellent engineers. This is a short differential guide. [Originally on LinkedIn]

Michael McNally
Chief Technology Officeer at GraphStax
5 December
Your Org Team may as well be a Sports team. Let's explore how this cohesive, multi-skilled team can be optimized for Great Group Playoff.

Jaroslav Pantsjoha
Google Cloud Practice lead at Contino
25 October
Mrunal Kapade, an Engineering leader, based in Silicon Valley, shares tips that helped reduce attrition in the remote engineering teams while leading multiple teams from startups to Fortune 500 companies.

Mrunal Kapade
Director of Engineering at Inspire Energy