With so many holidays happening towards the end of the year the workplace may turn into a stressed and frantic place with employees scrambling to meet yearly deadlines, not to mention the usual holiday stresses that are taking place at home. But it’s important that during this stressful time of year management keeps the workplace calm and cheerful, continuing on with productivity and eliminating stressful workers.
Most importantly you need to create a fun, cheery atmosphere! Nobody likes a Scrooge, and everyone could use some holiday fun! Maybe try doing an ugly sweater contest, having a bakery swap, a white elephant gift exchange or maybe even adopt family for the holidays as a team.
Have your team’s priorities straight. Be sure that everyone in the office is on the same page as to what must be completed before the end of the year and what can maybe be put off a couple more weeks. You don’t want anyone to panic, so have a list of the top 3 priorities in order of importance for each employee to see.
Be understanding of time and provide flexibility. Between holiday traffic, after-school events, and going out of town to visit family it’s important to be understanding of the needs of employees. Of course there’s always a limit as to what is acceptable and what is not, leave time for employees to make up missed work.
Provide holiday incentives. Especially around the holidays people are looking to make some extra cash, or get some extra time off. Reward those who help drastically in meeting end of the year deadlines by rewarding them with a bonus, extra vacation, etc. This will keep employees wanting to come to work, and working hard to meet deadlines.
Lastly, dispose of distractions. The holidays and end of the year is busy enough without all of the distractions of meetings, e-mails and turn off cell phones. It sounds difficult, especially since we are such creatures of habit always checking our phones and e-mails, but it’s time to crack down. By getting rid of these distractions your workplace will come together and get much more work done before the deadline.
Make the most of the holiday stress and panic, and create a fun-filled work place.