II. Delivering Incentives: Guidelines

Swift:

Sanctions should be administered as quickly as possible after a violation is discovered. The faster a sanction or reward is delivered, the greater impact it will have on offender behavior. Long delays between actions and consequences can cause offenders to lose sight of why they are being punished/rewarded and make them see the response as arbitrary and unfair. Waiting to sanction an offender makes the response ineffective. Delayed rewards have similarly diluted impact.