Workdays are busy, so it can be easy to forget to pause to give our colleagues a professional shout out. That’s unfortunate considering giving coworkers compliments boosts the whole team’s morale (and generally improve your relationships), and praising someone professionally for their work takes just a few seconds. The good news: We’ve got 60+ positive things to say about a coworker below.
Bonus: We’ve also added a sample shout out message for colleagues at the end. Use it on the company intranet or Slack!
In this article:
- How to (Appropriately) Praise Someone Professionally for Their Work
- 60+ Compliments and Other Nice Things to Say About a Coworker
- Bonus: Sample Shout Out Message for a Colleague (Email, Slack, etc.)
How to Praise Someone Professionally for Their Work
You’ll find dozens of ideas in our compliments list below, but our number one tip is: Be as specific as possible. Some additional pointers:
- Keep the focus on a colleague’s talents, such as creative problem-solving or project management — anything that affirms their work. In other words, say more than just, “Good work!”
- Bonus points if the positive things you say about a coworker involve an area you know they’ve worked extra hard on and/or an area where they’ve improved.
- Whenever possible, go for a public affirmation — if you’re impressed with what Anna did on the latest marketing project, send an email to the whole team or give her a shout-out in Slack #general! We have a template for a sample shout out message for a colleague at the end of this article.
Template: How to Compliment Someone on Their Work
If you want to praise someone professionally, try using this compliment template to craft a perfect colleague compliment every time.
[what they did] + [how it helped your own work/the team] + [why you liked what they did]
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60+ Compliments for Coworkers, Colleagues, Employees, and Bosses
There are endless nice things to say about a coworker. Hopefully, this list, organized by use case, will introduce some positive affirmations into your work day!
Compliments on Specific Projects
- “I’m so impressed with how you handled that meeting today. I always admire how clearly you present your work.”
- “Hey! Your latest work on X is incredible. I can tell how hard you’ve worked on it. It shows.”
- “I just wanted to say that I see how hard you’ve been working on X. I admire how dedicated you are to the work you do.”
- “I loved what you had to say today about X, and I’d really like to learn more about it. Would love to grab a coffee and hear more, if you’re open to it!”
- “Way to go on that project! We were all blown away.” (Sometimes, short and sweet is awesome.)
- “I can’t get over how great your presentation was. I might need to pick your brain the next time I have to give one!”
- “I’ve never thought about X that way before. You made me see it totally differently. I love that!”
- “I can’t get over how great your presentation was. I need to pick your brain the next time I have to give one!”
- “I’ve never thought about X that way before. You made me see it totally differently. I love that!”
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Compliments for Coworkers Who Have Had a Bad Day
- “Hey, that was kind of a tough crowd today. I’m impressed with how you handled everything.”
- “I just remembered that X project you did last month—remember how well it went over? We should talk about working on something like that again. I’m ready for another big win!”
- “I just want to say that I really admire all the work you’re doing.”
- “Thank you again for helping me on X project! I literally couldn’t have done it without you.”
- “Hey, I know work’s been crazy lately, and I just want to say that everything you do is incredible. Can I help lighten the load in any way?”
- “How do you always look so put together even on crazy weeks like this? It’s so impressive.”
- “Thank you again for [Insert literally anything here. That’s the beauty of it.]. I know I don’t say that enough.”
Compliments for a Big Win
- “Congrats on the promotion. No one deserves this more.”
- “You killed it in there! It energized me to get started on X.”
- “I’m amazed by how well you do this job. It’s so inspiring.”
- “You inspire me to do better work.” (“Inspire” is always a good work compliment word.)
- “I seriously can’t wait to see what you do next.”
- “Wow. Just wow.”
- “I’m definitely taking notes from the way you work. I want my work to be that good.”
How to Compliment a Colleague’s Skills
- “You are such an incredible problem-solver.”
- “I’m so impressed by how you communicate. It makes everything easier.”
- “I don’t know what we would do with you and your ideas.”
- “Thank you so much for helping me on X. I’m not the best at [insert a skill here that’s one of their strong suits], so you were a lifesaver.”
- “You’ve got such an amazing work ethic.”
- “Your skills made this project come together.”
- “You bring so much to this team, especially with presentations.” (You can use any specific element or skill the person tends to add to the project.)
- “You ask such insightful questions.”
How to Compliment Your Boss (Without It Feeling Weird)
- “Thank you for taking the time to work with me on this. It helped me get so much more out of this project.”
- “I appreciate you trusting me with added responsibility. It means a lot.”
- “I know you juggle a lot as our manager, and I just wanted to say that I’m so impressed by the great work you get done.”
- “I’ve learned so much from you.”
- “Thank you for supporting my growth and mentoring me. I appreciate it.”
- “Thank you for always hearing me out and listening to my ideas and solutions.”
- “Your guidance has helped me incredibly during the last quarter.”
- “I really appreciate the constructive feedback you give to me regularly.”
- “You set a fantastic example for all of us to follow.”
How to Compliment Your Employees (If You’re the Boss)
- “We’re lucky to have such a hardworking employee as part of our team!”
- “Your work has not gone unnoticed.” (This is an especially important one!)
- “The role you play on this team is crucial.”
- “The ideas you bring to the table are so valuable.”
- “I appreciate you.”
- “You have a natural strength in applying feedback and constructive criticism.”
- “Congratulations on a job well done!”
- “Your reliability is second to none.”
- “The way you approached this project added so much to it. It’s great to see how your unique perspective contributed to the outcome.”
- “I can’t say enough how grateful I am that you always take ownership of your projects. It’s so nice to know that you’ve got it covered.”
- “Hey, [Name], the work you did on [XYZ] project completely changed the way I was looking at it. Thank you for giving.”
Compliments For Coworkers’ Performance Reviews, Including Peer Reviews
- [Name] excels at developing strategies that have delivered strong results for us.
- [Name’s] efforts this quarter have helped us exceed our original goal of …
- One of [Name’s] strengths is facilitating group discussions.
- I’m so grateful to [Name] for encouraging collaboration amongst our team members.
- [Name] is always willing to cooperate and work alongside other members of our team.
- I can always count on [Name] to…[insert a specific skill or task here]
- [Name’s] work ethic is unparalleled.
- I know that the door is always open for communication with [Name], which makes every project we work on together so much easier to complete.
- I would ask to work with [name] on every project if I could!
- I consider [Name] to be both a professional peer and mentor. I can always rely on their feedback and thoughts.
Bonus: Sample Shout Out Message for Colleague
Remember how we said earlier that the best coworker compliment is the one you say in front of the team? Here’s a perfect template for giving a colleague a shout out on Slack, the company intranet, or via email. It’s set up so you can easily copy and paste — just replace the bold brackets!
Hey Team! Wanted to take a minute to shout out [colleague name]. We worked on [insert project name or details here] together, and I'm absolutely blown away by the way [he/she/they] handled [insert a particular part of the project that your coworker owned]. Kudos, @[name or Slack handle]. I owe you one.
That’s it (for now) for our list of positive things to say about a coworker. Need more? Here are 10 more specific and sincere work compliments.
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