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Active appreciation

As explained in Think Like a Software Engineering Manager

The deliberate expression of gratitude for a person's contributions, effort, or achievements.

Active appreciation means deliberately recognizing people for their contributions, effort, or achievements. In cross-functional work, extend recognition beyond your immediate team and encourage partners to appreciate one another. section 9.3.5 section 11.3.5

Use active appreciation to make recognition specific, visible, and collaborative:

  • Extend the recognition practices used within your team to cross-functional partners. section 9.3.5
  • Encourage team members to appreciate one another’s accomplishments. section 9.3.5
  • Recognize people who go beyond expectations, using public channels when appropriate. section 11.3.5

Recognizing a launch team

After a team adapted successfully to changing product-launch expectations, Jason publicly appreciated two engineers and a technical program manager through team and leadership channels. He used Lattice in alignment with the company’s leadership principles, reinforcing morale and collaboration. section 11.3.5

How Think Like a Software Engineering Manager covers it

How deep it goes
Explains the practice through extending recognition, encouraging peer appreciation, and applying public recognition in one scenario.
Examples
Uses cross-functional partner recognition and Jason’s public appreciation of engineers and a technical program manager through Lattice.
What it assumes
Assumes awareness of team and cross-functional work while treating recognition and appreciation as practical management behaviors.
What you can do after
Apply it via public appreciation, frequent recognition, and peer encouragement for exceptional contributions.
How it connects
Connects appreciation with recognition, constructive feedback, cross-functional collaboration, morale, and team bonds.

Related concepts

This explainer was generated by Manning's knowledge graph from the text of Think Like a Software Engineering Manager. The section links point to the parts of the book it draws on.