"Congratulations! Job well done!"--How many times, in your workplace, have you said or heard this sentence? I hope your answer is--"Quite often, Emilia." Great! Now, you are feeling happy thinking that your boss appreciates your effort and dedication to the work. Well, actually, he or you are just being judgmental about the work. In this short and famous sentence in all the workplaces, there is no acknowledgement and expression of pride, affection, joy, admiration, enthusiasm, satisfaction, or appreciation. Only a judgment. Sad! I know, not everybody masters the art of giving praise or appreciation.

Let me ask you how you express your appreciation for your employees, colleagues, partners, stakeholders, and the board?--Why is this important, Emilia? you are asking. The way you express your appreciation is important because if you don't express your appreciation for your workplace family they will feel that you take them for granted, don't value them, ignore them, or use them. Therefore, they don't trust you, they become unproductive, disengaged, disruptive, disobedient, argumentative, and difficult to work with. Is this the outcome you want? Of course not! The good news is that it's very easy to learn and master this skill. Let's learn how to do it.

How to express positive emotions:

• When and where: When and where to give praise and show appreciation is so important. Imagine you are a staunch introvert and your team manager during a meeting decides to stand up and say out loud how proud he is of you. Most probably you would be very embarrassed. You would appreciate more if he had done it in a more private way. After all, not everybody is an extrovert. Getting the timing right is also important. Expressing your feelings as the situation arises or when you next see the person involved (if it's soon after) is a far better timing. Of course, if you are furious, it can be good to calm down first. How quickly do you express your feelings at work or at home? Do you take the timing into consideration? By taking in to consideration the right place and time to express your appreciation, you are also taking in to consideration his/her feelings.
• What to do and say: You were nominated Employee of the Month. A little ceremony takes place in a nice restaurant and your CEO besides giving you the certificate of "Employee of the Month" and your money prize, just says "Congratulations! Job well done!". What is wrong here? Expressing feelings of appreciation and pride, through the giving of gifts is a time-honored tradition. However, what you do and, especially, what you say when you give the gift makes an enormous difference. Simply presenting the certificate of "Employee of the Month" and saying "Congratulations! Job well done!" is not a clear expression of your feelings. When you give the certificate if you add the words: "I appreciate so much your hard work and your commitment to this company. I'm so proud of you and so grateful to have you on my team. Thank you!," you have expressed three emotions--appreciation, pride, and gratitude. In other words, expressing feelings clearly often involves articulating and using a vocabulary of feeling words. When these are used, there can be no misunderstandings.