5 Tips to Keep Your Team Productive During the Holidays
The Christmas season brings in numerous challenges to workplaces everywhere. It’s that time of the year where concerns such as, Where are we going to hold our Christmas Party? or What kind of gift will impress my boss? becomes part of the office agenda. But the most important workplace challenge during the holidays is this: How can we stay productive and still meet our targets amidst all the festivities? Not being able to answer this need may mean losses in revenue but what can managers do to keep the team’s momentum just as the year winds down? Plenty, as it turns out:
1. Maintain the season’s festive mood
Always keep in mind this office management trade secret: A happy worker is a productive worker. People are in a more festive mood during Christmas time, so don’t fight it and instead encourage it! Keeping a happy and light work atmosphere does wonders to the self-esteem of workers, thus making them more motivated to do their jobs. Don’t be the Scrooge that dampens their holiday spirits, instead uplift them and show them you are one with them in celebration. You’ll soon find your employees will be more than willing to do their jobs and maybe even go the extra mile to do them.
2. Prioritize and strategize
Knowing that workdays during this period are often cut short to make way for the Christmas break makes these actions a necessity. First, find out which tasks need the most immediate attention and make them the priority. Those that can be postponed until after the holiday season should be left as such. Next, set clear goals and deadlines for these activities to ensure everyone can focus on their responsibilities—but do take into account the available workdays left in the month as well as the pre-scheduled leaves of the employees. Stress the importance of making the targets and keep everyone on the loop to help team members stay productive.
3. Reward accomplishments
The joyful mood of the season makes this the best time to celebrate everything the team has accomplished for the year. Recognizing your employees’ hard work will put everyone in a good mood and is a great motivator for them to do even better in their respective tasks. Treating your team doesn’t even require you to spend that much—a simple token of appreciation to celebrate a job well done is sometimes all it takes to put a smile on a worker’s face. For bigger accomplishments, you can treat your team to food and drinks at a restaurant—just remember to make this treat extra special so they’ll feel appreciated and rewarded for their efforts.
4. Reach out and get in touch with each other
Encourage openness and communication within the team to see if everyone is on the same page. Perhaps one or two members are having a hard time making their targets—by getting everyone to voice out their concerns the team can work out a plan to meet the goal without leaving anyone behind. Be approachable to your employees and make them to see that you are ready and willing to listen to their needs. Scheduling a weekly catch-up session can do wonders in maintaining the team’s productivity throughout the season.
5. Become your team’s Santa Claus and give them the gift of productivity…tools
Since it’s the season of gift giving anyway, why don’t you give out office supplies as gifts to your team? Ask them what tools they need to make them more productive at work. It can be frustrating to work when you lack things you need to perform your job well so these gifts will be very much appreciated by the team. If you’re up for it, you can also do an inventory of your office’s machines and replace the ones that need an upgrade. Yes it’s true that this will require you to release funds but then you’ll be rewarded by a more productive team anyway so it’ll be worth it in the end. Plus, it’s good to welcome the New Year with new stuff around the office, right? Just look at it as investments that will take your company to even greater heights.