Setting up your own gratitude wall can be as simple as claiming a space on an existing wall, or bulletin board, or even a door or window. Once you’ve identified the space, all you need to do is create a basic gratitude wall sign and have post it notes and pens available. The more colors, the better! My colleague Kate has amazing penmenship, so I always asked her to draw out the sign. She also has these cute flags (a great dollar store find!). We hung them around the sign to help create the visual space for the ‘wall’.
If you are creating a dedicated space during a meeting or conference, you can introduce the concept at the beginning of the session. Share a bit about the science of gratitude (see my post for some highlights) and how helpful it is to reducing stress, and increasing our ability to become present. It also preps our brains to be more open, curious, and able to do future-state and complex thinking. Consider designing specific times during your meeting or conference when you need the creative or brave energy from your participants. Carve out space for participants to take a moment to think about something they are truly grateful for, and to write a headline, or make a doodle, on a post it note.
If you want to support building the gratitude muscle among your team or department, consider carving out space in one of the common areas for a gratitude wall. Introduce the concent during a team meeting or informal gathering. Note: If you plan to have the gratitude wall up over an extended period of time, consider changing up the question prompt every now and then.
Participating in the gratitude wall is usually optional. When we changed the prompt and took down the existing post it notes in our team area, we read through them and sent out a brief note (or made mention during a team meeting) of some of the items people mentioned.
Lastly – what about for an all virtual or hybrid team? No problem! There are MANY tools that support visual notes. Google Jamboard is one of my favorites. It is free, it is anonymous, and people can add electronic post-it notes!
Have another recommendation or question about gratitude walls? Post a comment below!
