Good job!
Is hopefully something you tell colleagues and get told yourself regularly, but is it enough? Of course, it’s always nice to hear something positive and it puts you in a light mood. But to really create positive reinforcement, more is required.
What is positive reinforcement?
It is concrete and positive feedback that you hear in connection with something you’ve just done. So it isn’t enough for a manager to say “good job”, but it must be followed by something concrete:
“Good job with the report that you submitted yesterday, it shows that you have been thorough with the numbers and the choice of images.”
Or:
“Good job with the presentation, you created both curiosity and a clear message.”
Is once enough?
Negative reinforcement has the advantage that once is enough, so it stays for a long time. But our brains have a harder time absorbing positive reinforcement, it takes between 5-10 times (depending on which research you ask) for it to stick properly and produce results. Therefore, it is important that everyone starts thinking about helping each other in a team or in a workplace to make positive reinforcement a habit.
It is important
Everyone wants to be in an environment where you get positive feedback! It creates a feeling that you are actually accomplishing something, which reduces stress and increases well-being. And by making everyone feel good and motivated to perform, your performance will be improved, a win-win quite simply!
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