34: Change your team retros to account for impact

What If We Tracked the Right Things?

We’re good at tracking what gets done. Kanban boards, Jira tickets, Trello cards, and the classic columns: To Do, In Progress, Done.

But here’s what no one says—some of our most meaningful work never makes it onto those boards.

The 30 minutes you spent walking a junior through a confusing doc.
The gut-check you gave your peer before they went into a tough meeting.
The diminutive pivot you suggested made someone else’s idea stronger.

These are real contributions—the kind that glue teams together, build trust, grow confidence, and quietly raise the collective bar.

But they’re invisible.

And if we’re not careful, we believe they don’t count.

Inspired by Adam Grant, Built for the Rest of Us

Organizational psychologist Adam Grant keeps a journal that pairs gratitude with usefulness.
Read the original Linked In Post that inspired this article here.

• Three things he’s thankful for.

• Three ways he was helpful to others.

That second part—usefulness—stuck with me. It’s not about being nice. It’s about asking: “Where did I make a difference?”

He and researcher Jane Dutton found that reflecting on contribution, more than just gratitude, actually increases our willingness to help again. When we name the ways we’ve helped, we don’t just feel good; we keep going.

And that got me thinking…

What if teams started tracking that? Not instead of Jira, but alongside it. What if contribution became something we made visible, not for credit, but for culture?

Why This Changes Everything

This isn’t about shoutouts or feel-good moments (though those are lovely too).
This is about making the invisible infrastructure of great teams visible.

Imagine a lightweight board where people log the actual work that helps teams thrive:

• “Helped Priya debug a sticky issue after stand-up.”

• “Reviewed Jamal’s deck before the stakeholder meeting.”

• “Took over Ana’s on-call shift when her kid was sick.”

• “Ran through talking points with Liam for his first client pitch.”

No gold stars. No leaderboard. Just signals of care, support, and shared success.

These aren’t “above and beyond.” These are the jobs.
The human side of delivery that Jira will never capture.

Why This Matters (Especially Now)

• For hybrid teams, missing hallway moments.

• For junior folks, learning that influence isn’t just about your work.

• For leaders’ modeling, helping matters as much as hustling.

Contribution Boards don’t replace metrics. They reveal what metrics miss.

They show the quiet mentorship, the emotional labor, and the trust-building.
The stuff that turns a group of people into a team.

How to Launch It (Without Creating a Popularity Contest)

The magic of Contribution Boards lies in their authenticity—they fail when they become performative. Here’s how to keep them meaningful:

Structure for Substance: To make contribution boards meaningful, tie prompts to observable actions. Instead of generic reflections, ask team members to share specific examples—like “How did you help a teammate overcome a blocker this week?” or “Who helped you save time or reduce stress? Tag them and describe what they did.” Avoid vague praise such as “Shoutout to Sam for being awesome!” and instead require concrete impact. A better example would be: “Sam spotted a data gap in my report before the client saw it.” This shift ensures contributions are acknowledged, clearly understood, and appreciated.

Level the Playing Field: To create an inclusive and balanced culture, rotate facilitators weekly to avoid hierarchy bias and ensure everyone has a voice. This helps prevent the same individuals from dominating recognition or setting the tone. Additionally, make space to spotlight quieter contributions by asking, “What’s something helpful that didn’t get acknowledged in meetings?” This encourages recognition of behind-the-scenes support and ensures that value isn’t only measured by visibility.

Keep It Voluntary, But Valued: Participation in contribution boards should never be mandatory—no quotas, no pressure. Instead, cultivate a culture where reflection feels meaningful rather than performative. Leaders play a key role by modeling humility and sharing their moments of “unseen” support, demonstrating that even small, behind-the-scenes contributions matter. This sets the tone for authentic engagement without obligation.

Example of a Healthy Board:
✅ “Took over Ana’s on-call shift when her kid was sick.”
✅ “Walked Liam through the budget template he’d struggled with.”
🚫 “Props to Jess for crushing it!” (It is too vague. Ask how Jess helped.)

This isn’t about racking up thank-yous—it’s about making the real work of teamwork visible.

What Might Change

If we normalize reflecting not just on what we did, but how we helped, we may begin to value generosity, not just productivity. We may reward collaboration as much as completion. We may start to create a culture that doesn’t just deliver, but uplifts.

Maybe contribution boards will become as commonplace as Kanban boards, reminding us that helping others is progress worth tracking.

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