How to Show the Five Professional Love Languages in the Workplace

Do you know your team’s professional love languages?

March 15, 2022
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There are 300 more icebreaker questions at the bottom of the article
How would you describe your job to a five year old?
What season would you be?
What is a weird food you have tried? Would you eat it again?
What is your favorite holiday tradition?
Would you go in the mother-ship with aliens if they landed on Earth tomorrow?
What is your favorite season?
Do prefer working from home or the office?
What is your earliest memory of this job?
What is the best thing you have bought so far this year?
What is the earliest book you remember?
If you had to move to another country, which one would you choose?
You are the best criminal mastermind in the world. What crime would you commit if you knew you would get away with it?
What is your favorite movie genre to watch?
What was the last thing you ate?
What person from history would you add to Mount Rushmore?
What is a weird fact you know?
What is your favorite part of working from home?
Were the Spice Girls a good team?
Imagine you can instantly learn any language. Which would you choose?
If you could live in any state, which state would you pick?
Which fictional team is the best team of all time?
What did you want to be when you grew up?
What do you usually eat for a quick lunch?
What simple food will you never eat?
Show us the weirdest thing you have in the room with you right now.
Would you rather stay at a hotel or an AirBNB?
What is your favorite movie genre to watch?
Are you more productive in the morning or at night?
Who is someone in your community that makes a difference?
Who was your most unique pet?
Choose one famous person from history you want on your team during a zombie apocalypse.
What is a good way to give back to the community?
Which song could you listen to over and over again?
Is Hugh Grant funny?
What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?
Would you want to have an imaginary friend today? Did you have one as a child?
What actor or actress would you want to play you in the movie about your life?
What is the best super power?
What is your New Years resolution?
You can only eat one food again for the rest of your life. What is it?
What is the best work holiday?
What is the first gift you remember receiving?
Would you rather join Metallica or Backstreet Boys?
What is the best example of a community you have seen?
What is an easy way to do something nice for someone?
Show us your phone background and tell the story behind why you picked this image.
What was your first job?
Pick any band to play at your funeral.
If you could have an unlimited supply of one thing for the rest of your life, what would you pick?
Which superpower would you give to your arch enemy?
What is the most obscure superpower you would want?
What emoji best describes how you are feeling right now?
If you could live in any country, which country would you pick?
Would you rather live in a city or a town?
What is your favorite holiday?
What is something you accomplished as part of a team?
What is your standard office lunch?
What is your most used phone app?
What is your favorite season?
Have you ever won something as a team?
Imagine you are a professional baseball player. What is your introduction song?
Beach holiday or ski trip?
Have you ever been to a funny comedy show?
Would you rather live at the North Pole or the South Pole?
What is your favorite song to sing?
If you could live in any state, which state would you pick?
Imagine you could teleport anywhere. Where would you go right now?
What is the most unusual job you have heard of?
What was the last thing you ate?
You can visit any fictional time or place. Which would you pick?
What do your family and friends think you do all day?
What movie do you wish you could watch again for the first time?
Show us your most-used emoji.
What was the most unique style or fashion trend you ever embraced?
What movie defined your generation?
You are stranded on a remote desert island. Are you alone or with your worst enemy?
What is your favorite knock-knock joke?
Have you ever told someone Santa is not real?
Do you know how to speak more than one language?
On a scale of 1 – 10, how much of a team player are you?
What is your #1 recommendation in this city?
What is your favorite holiday?
What bucket list item do you most want to check off in the next six months?
What is your favorite mythical creature?
What was the first way you made money?
If you could be great at any Olympic sport, which would it be?
Which song could you listen to over and over again?
When did you start liking/hating mushrooms?
Where is your favorite vacation spot?
Do you take your PTO all at one time, or another way?
Which show do you remember most from your childhood?
Which beverage goes best with pizza?
Would you want to have a personal assistant follow you around everywhere and do what you asked of them?
Have you ever met your idol?
What did you want to be when you grew up?
Would you rather live 100 years in the past or 100 years in the future?
What is your hobby?
When you are alone in the car, what volume is the music at?
Imagine you no longer have to work. How would you spend a Tuesday?
What is your favorite type of sandwich?

You may be familiar with the five love languages when it comes to personal relationships, but have you heard of professional love languages? Sometimes known as languages of appreciation, workplace love languages is a way to understand how your coworkers like to be recognized and appreciated. In the same way understanding different work styles can help the team work better together, understanding different professional love languages can improve communication and morale. 

So, what are the five professional love languages? They are:

  • Feedback as Words of Affirmation
  • Dedicated 1:1 as Quality of Time 
  • Rewards as Receiving Gifts 
  • Support as Acts of Service - Get Help
  • Encouragement as Physical Touch 
Provide Opportunities for Feedback

A great way to provide words of affirmation to your employees is to offer constructive and positive feedback. Giving feedback shows that you are paying attention to their work and recognizing their achievements. When the feedback is reasonable and actionable, it can be an investment into not only their work but their professional development as well. 

Make sure you provide regular opportunities for feedback (remember, this goes both ways). Having a structured way and schedule to collect feedback can be incredibly valuable to the relationship between a manager and their team. Assembly makes this easy with the Manager feedback template. This workflow allows you to organize different feedback meetings (1:1 or performance evaluations), set and track goals, and observe growth all from one place. Learn more about how the Manager Feedback Flow works here.  

Set Aside Individual Time

The best managers make sure they are spending individual time with their team members to give undivided attention. It’s easy to get lost in the hustle of work and teams, so having a dedicated one-on-one can provide space for the employee to voice concerns, give feedback, get help, or just chat. 

If you want to add structure, transparency, and accountability to your one-one-one meetings, try the customizable One on One meeting template. This template will help you document important goals and KPIs, create and edit talking points, and collect feedback all in one place Learn more about this one-on-one workflow template here

Recognize and Reward

Who doesn’t like being rewarded for their contributions? Employee recognition is one of the most important drivers for company culture and employee retention. A tangible gift is a great way to show appreciation. Rewards like gift cards and sponsored meals are popular but they can come in other forms as well like company swag, trophies, donations to charities, or even opportunities for professional growth. 

When done correctly, employee recognition should be integrated in the daily workflow and allow everyone to feel valued by their peers and managers. With Assembly’s Give Recognition Flow, employees and managers can recognize each other for work well done, publicly celebrate them, and redeem those recognitions for fun rewards. Learn how you can build a culture of internal appreciation here

Give a Helping Hand

We could all use a hand, and offering support or going out of your way to help is a great gesture of appreciation. “Actions speak louder than words” and supportive actions like answering questions, giving resources, or doing the work with them can say a lot. Not only does this show appreciation it can also create a spirit of teamwork. 

Don’t make it hard to ask for help. Whether the person is a new employee or a seasoned executive, we all need help sometimes. Empower your people to reach out and help others by using a tool like Assembly’s Get Help Flow. This Flow creates a place for people to request help and offer support, while opening up internal communication. Learn how you can build a culture of open communication and support here

Express Encouragement

In the workplace a love language like physical touch can be tricky, but essentially this love language comes down to expressing encouragement. This can be done with high-fives and thumbs-up (in person or with emojis) or cheering your coworkers on. Encouraging someone shows that you care and believe in their value and growth.

A great way to encourage your employees is to celebrate and publicly recognize them. Regularly celebrate your employees in a public and meaningful way and provide opportunities for team mates and managers to nominate each other. Assembly’s Employee Nomination Template engages employees to nominate and vote for one another. This way, there are so many opportunities for employees to feel valued and noticed for their contributions. Learn more about encouraging your employees with nominations and recognition here


Browse our Free Employee Recognition Guide

Get the foundational knowledge on creating an employee recognition program that boosts employee engagement and helps them feel valued.

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Employee recognition guide