Ways to Support Workplace Productivity while Embracing the Holiday Spirit

By Beth Porter, Four Corners Broadcasting

It’s that time again, when holiday chaos reigns! We add holiday parties, crazy shopping sprees, travel and more…all in basically one month’s time! And that’s on top of our regular workloads that still need to get done, and get done well. How do you corral your team to maintain productivity without resorting to Ebenezer Scrooge tactics? Create a thoughtfully crafted agenda of highly organized priority setting and work-life balance tools. Here are some favorites from the Forbes Human Resources Council.

Set Boundaries
Let your team know that your policy is to respect personal time, theirs and yours, and let your family know that you have work obligations that you need to honor. Be sure you and your team fully disconnect during downtime and that there is time for rest and recharging as well. Everyone will enjoy their time more, improve well-being and boost productivity.

Prioritize
Meet with your team and communicate clearly the projects and tasks that really need doing. This includes reminding them that some of their everyday tasks may be repetitive, but they still need to be done well. Create hot, warm and cool lists, possibly reworking deadlines for warm and cool items to steer focus to those items that are most crucial.

Focus
Chaotic times are the worst times to multi-task! Handle one thing at a time; let that be your focus for that time period. It helps to stop to take a breath, decompress for a minute or two, before gathering your focus again to complete the task at hand.

Ruthless Time Management
We all practice some degree of blocking out specific times for specific tasks, but this is the time to really commit to those blocks. Schedule priority tasks or those that require the most focus during your most productive hours, while still treating your personal time blocks as equally important and inviolable. Keep in mind that breaking projects into smaller, easier to achieve tasks helps to create a clear timeline that will show where there’s some flexibility and give in the project.

The 80-20 rule applies
Yup, it bears out time and again…80 percent of high value outcomes result from 20 percent of your effort. Each day, focus on the top priority that makes the biggest impact. Peruse your to-do list (work
and personal) and see if there are things you can delegate to colleagues with lighter work loads or family members who could use something to do.

Flexible Scheduling and Planning in a Group Setting
There are a lot of holidays between November and January! Is there a way to enable employees to take off a reasonable amount of time to enjoy those dates that are significant to them? Think shift-swapping, floating or comp holidays or other accommodations. Have a team meeting to get a sense of everyone’s schedules. If done in a collaborative setting, team members can negotiate with each other to be sure everything is covered. This effort will go a long way to helping your team maintain focus and keep up a positive attitude. While the team may not all be working at the same time, they are working towards the same goals. As long as you set clear expectations of outcomes, employees will feel connected to families and friends while still shouldering their piece of the work load.
These are all steps that can help boost employee satisfaction and team productivity throughout the year. Implementing them now, in essence a trial by fire, can make the holidays more enjoyable for everyone, allowing time for personal and family time without sacrificing productivity. It’s a plan that even Ebenezer Scrooge can embrace….before and after his ghostly visitors.

Wishing you all a happy, productive, family-friendly holiday season!
Looking for an immersive experience in leadership development or to develop leadership skills for a team member? Consider Leadership La Plata, an excellent local resource. Check out www.LeadershipLaPlata.org for more information.

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Beth Porter is the Senior Marketing Consultant with Four Corners Broadcasting and an alumni of Leadership La Plata Class of 2015-2016.

https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbeshumanresourcescouncil/2024/11/15/20-ways-to-balance-work-and-personal-time-during-the-holidays/