Background

“Kudos to you” is a phrase that conveys a sense of pride or gratitude towards someone.

The exercise

As an exercise we write a few words on a card. This card can be addressed to an individual person or a smaller team. In the context of a workshop or meeting, we write the name of the person receiving the thanks or praise on the card.

It is extremely important that you allocate enough time for writing the Kudo cards as the first cards usually address the “obvious” people. This might lead to an imbalance. And it is also the quiet and reserved people (hidden heroes) who shall be named and appreciated.

Step-by-step Instruction

Description for a remote workshop:

Before the Workshop

• Create an area on your whiteboard or online collaboration board to work with your participants.
• Download the Kudo cards
  • Copy an adequate number of Kudo cards according to the number of participants in your workshop.
  • Place the respective cards on a virtual pile from which the participants can “draw” the Kudo cards
  • Reserve dedicated areas on the board to collect the Kudos for each participant.

During the workshop or meeting

• Briefly explain what your participants have to do.
• Allow about 15-20 minutes for participants to give appreciative feedback to their colleagues. It is helpful to formulate the feedback as concretely as possible (if necessary, add situations as keywords).
• Let everyone write their feedback onto the cards and pin them in the respective areas of their colleagues.
• Give your participants time to read the cards they have received
• Conduct a short debriefing, on how this exercise was for them. If applicable, describe what atmospheric change you perceived as a facilitator.

A result might look like the picture on the right.

In a physical workshop or meeting, proceed similarly:

Get enough Kudo cards. Lay them out in the room with appropriate pens. Ask your participants to write their feedback. It is a good idea for the participants to give their Kudo cards directly to the respective person afterwards. Again, allow enough time for this. It makes sense to include a debrief, both physically and online.

Additional resources

Jurgen Appelo: Managing for Happiness Games, Tools, and Practices to Motivate Any Team, Hoboken: Wiley, 2016.

You can buy or download the cards here:

Management 3.0 – Kudo Box & Kudo Cards
Agile Thinking: Kudo Cards (German)

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