Recognition habits for teams
12 simple habits that make recognition part of your team's week. Each one comes with a step-by-step guide and ready-to-copy messages for Slack, Teams and the web.
Useful even if you don't use Karma.
Start with one habit, keep it for a month, then add another.
Good first habitFriday karma shower
Every Friday, your team takes 10 minutes to thank everyone who helped them this week.
Meeting shout-outs
Spend the last few minutes of a team meeting or standup thanking each other.
Thank someone new
Once a week, thank a colleague you haven't thanked before.
Behind-the-scenes thanks
Recognize the work that usually goes unseen: reviews, docs, quiet help.
One value month
Focus on one company value for a month and help your team notice it in everyday work.
All values month
A one-month challenge to recognize every company value at least once.
Monthly highlights
Share the most meaningful thank-yous of the month, not a leaderboard.
Monthly team reward
Offer a shared reward the whole team can contribute their karma to.
Good first habitNew hire welcome
A public welcome on day one and a thank-you after the first month.
Good first habitMilestone moments
Celebrate birthdays and work anniversaries, and thank people for their year of work.
Project launch thanks
After a release, thank everyone who made it happen, including people from other teams.
Year in Karma
Look back at your team's year of recognition: numbers, values and favorite thank-yous.
Why habits, not one-off thanks
Most teams want to recognize each other more, but good intentions fade in a busy week. Habits fix that. A fixed moment, a clear prompt and a simple template make thanking someone easy, so it actually happens.
How to know a habit is working
Give each habit a month before you judge it. Then look at a few simple signals: more people giving thanks, recognition reaching people who rarely got it, and your company values showing up in everyday messages.
With Culture analytics in Karma, you can see all of this without spreadsheets.
Free templates for team meetings
Many habits work best together with a good meeting. Find free FigJam templates for agendas, icebreakers, one-on-ones, team charters and newsletters in our Templates library.
Frequently asked questions
How often should we run recognition habits?
Pick one weekly habit as your base, then add monthly ones and key moments as you go. Regular, small moments work better than rare big ones.
How many habits should we start at once?
One or two. Let the first habit stick for a month before adding the next.
What if our team doesn't join in?
Start small and go first yourself. Tag one or two people you know will reply, keep messages short, and give it a few weeks. Most habits take 2–3 weeks to feel natural.
Do we need Karma to use these habits?
No. Every habit works with plain messages. Karma makes thanks visible, ties it to your company values and shows you what's working.
Karma for Web
Karma for Slack
Karma for MS Teams
Karma for Telegram