Leading with gratitude on remote teams helps team members to think of each other more, and thus remember to inform others of things they might otherwise forget. It helps team members feel appreciated, and this more inclined to collaborate. It helps employees feel less controlled by their bosses and more appreciated instead. It becomes the foundation of a culture of thanksgiving. Further, gratitude also provides many other personal and social benefits—the research on gratitude and its benefits is now quite extensive.

Suhas Kulkarni provides instructions for practices that leaders and use or introduce to help their remote teams to feel appreciated and to express more gratitude. Teams need not use every practice. Pick one that sounds like it is a good fit for your team and try it out. Adapt it to fit your team. If, after you try it out, it doesn’t work, try a different one instead. If it works for weeks or months, but then starts to lose its impact, try another one.