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How often do you express appreciation to the people around you – in the workplace and your personal life? Do you say thank you often enough? Do you share, in sufficient detail, what you like about a person’s approach to a task or the way they handled a situation?  

Most likely, you overestimate how clearly conveyed your messages of appreciation are. Here’s what I suggest:

• Regularly connect and share something positive you notice.  
• Ask, “How are you,” make eye contact and listen to their response. Ask a follow-up question to give evidence that you’ve listened, and you care.  
• Say thank you and specify exactly what you’re thanking them for. Don’t make a broad, general statement; be descriptive.

Always, little things, like sincere expressions of appreciation, mean a lot. During this time of social distance and isolation, connecting with people to say, I see you, I appreciate you, you matter to me, means even more.

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