Did you know that one of the most effective ways of communicating with someone is as simple as sending a card with a hand-written note? Birthdays, anniversaries, thank yous, recognition.in this electronic age, greeting cards can instantly cut through the clutter and allow you to connect with the people-internal and external-who help make your organization a success.

In his Power of One book, Motivating Today's Employees, author and recognition expert Bob Nelson gives us some easy tips on effectively recognizing employees with a card.

"A simple gesture you can do for another is simple praising. In the workplace, praise is priceless, yet it costs nothing. Although giving an effective praise may seem like common sense, a lot of people have never learned how to do it. I suggest that praise should be done as soon, as sincere, as specific, and as proactive as possible.

As soon - Timing is very important when praising. To be most effective, the thank you should come as soon as possible after the achievement or desired activity has occurred. If you wait too long to thank a person, over time the gesture will lose its significance. Implicitly, the employee will figure that other things were more important to you than taking a few minutes with him or her.

As sincere - Words alone can seem hollow if you are not sincere in why you are praising. You need to praise because you are truly appreciative and excited about the other person's success, otherwise it may come across as a manipulative tactic; something you are doing only when you want an employee to work late, for example. As the saying goes, "People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care."

As specific - Avoid generalities in favor of details of the achievement. Specifics give credibility to your praising and also serve a practical purpose of stating exactly what was good about the behavior or achievement. Praising that is too broad tends to seem insincere. But saying, "Thanks for staying late to finish those calculations I needed. It was critical for my meeting this morning," specifically says what and why an employee's effort was of value.

As proactive - Praise progress toward desired goals or else you will tend to be reactive - typically about mistakes in your interactions with others. Don't wait for perfect performance: Praise improvements and approximately right behavior and you will get the results you want faster. In other words, the essence of a good praising communicates:

. I saw what you did (others don't know what you see)
. I appreciate it (place value on the behavior or achievement)
. Here's why it's important (always provide a context)
. Here's how it makes me feel (give an emotional charge)

The act of delivering simple, direct praise for a job well done is so easy to do, yet so many managers do not do it. Make the extra effort to appreciate employees, and they'll reciprocate in a thousand ways."

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