ESCAPE the Holiday Productivity Blahs

It's that time of year again: the time of holiday parties, Christmas cards to write, shopping to do (even online…at work!), vacations, family commitments, and more stress. It is no wonder that a recent survey by Accountemps found that 44% of executives feel employees are less productive the week before a major holiday.

While this may be true, there are ways that we as leaders can counteract all of the distractions and stress and help people be as productive now as at any time of the year. Following are some suggestions to keep the focus and results high as the bells ring louder and the shopping days disappear. Rather than avoiding the challenges or denying the distractions the season offers, ESCAPE the problems by applying the suggestions below.

Expect good results. Set high expectations and you will typically get great results. Set low ones and you'll get the matching results too. As a leader, one of your responsibilities is to set clear expectations and goals for others. However successful you have been at communicating and gaining understanding on these expectations, the holidays require some additional expectation setting. Give people a sense of where they are on their annual goals, and encourage them to finish the year strong. As you set and reinforce these expectations, remember to give people the support and resources they need to succeed. And of course, lead by example. Have high expectations of yourself to finish the year strong.

Share spirit. While some people have a bit of a cynical, stressed out, scrooge attitude towards the holidays, most find their spirits lifted and thoughtfulness is at an annual high. Encourage people to show their spirit and sense of goodwill when communicating with others inside the organization. Even more importantly, encourage those sales people, Customer Service professionals and others who communicate with Customers to use that holiday good cheer in their interactions. Customers will notice and everyone wins.

Celebrate! You probably have a holiday party at a restaurant or hotel, which is great. But consider doing an on-site workday event too. There are many options -"Secret Santa", a white elephant gift exchange, or daily afternoon holiday snack break with different people bringing things each day are just three suggestions. A little time spent here can help build relationships, bring people closer together and focus them on their work for the rest of the day and week. Make sure to let people who are interested in these kinds of events plan them – don't delegate it to the unwilling or overworked because it won't have the same results

Acknowledge the challenges and distractions. Let people know that you realize the holidays are a tough time of year to stay focused. Share your shopping and social calendar with them, so they understand that you feel the seasonal stress that they feel too. When people know you understand their situation, you gain credibility when talking about expectations and year end goals.

Present positive anticipation for the New Year. Give people something to look forward to. Get them excited about a target or project that will make a real difference early in the New Year. Giving people this forward focus will help the focus now, but will really help people past the doldrums that can come after January 1.

Engage outside your organization. Take the lead by organizing a group to lead a toy campaign, contribute to a food drive, or better yet, do something as a team in the community. Your group will feel proud of their efforts, pleased that their organization supported and encouraged the activity, and the team will improve their relationships which has a long term impact on team health and productivity.

These suggestions individually can help you navigate the holiday season more effectively. Taken together, however, they will help you ESCAPE the pitfalls and make December a valuable and productive close to the year and a jump start to the new one.

The 3 Secrets of Team Motivation

Do you want a highly motivated team who don't take time off
work, don't keep looking for other jobs and make a positive
contribution to your business?

If the answer is "yes," then there are three steps you need
to take with each member of your team.

Step 1 - Spend some quality time

I didn't say "quantity time" I said "quality time." One or
two minutes of quality time on a regular basis are far more
productive than a one hour review every year.

You need to get to know each member of your team better and
they need to get to know you.

This will help you build a positive relationship with each
team member. You'll gain a much better understanding of
them and how they're handling the job.

It will also give the impression that you care about the
individual and show that you're there to help with problems
both personal and business.

Spending quality time will encourage opinions and ideas to
flow from them and allows you to explain the company's
mission. It gives them a feeling of being in on things which
is a huge motivator.

It will also help you build an "early warning system" of any
problems both business and personal.
Finally, it builds team spirit and morale.

Step 2 - Give feedback and coach

You need to regularly tell each member of your team when
they're doing well and when not so well.

I read some recent research that suggested 65% of employees
in the US received no recognition at work in the past year.


My experience tells me that it's much the same throughout
the world and much worse in some countries.<

Some managers still believe - "why should I praise people
when they're only doing what they're paid to do."
If you want a happy and motivated team then you need to
tell them when they're doing well.

It's also important to tell people when they're not
performing well. There are too many managers who either
ignore poor behaviour or come down on the person like a
ton of bricks.

There are particular ways to give feedback and coach
and they're described in detail in the book - How to get
More Sales by Motivating Your Team.

Step 3 - Be a believer

We're now getting into the area of "Empowerment" which was
first introduced in the 1980's and became a bit of a
management buzzword. However, I believe that it's one of the
most promising but least understood concepts in team
motivation today.

I'm a fairly down to earth practical sort of person
(probably comes from my engineering background). I'm not big
into motivation theories unless I can see the benefits for
me - I see a great deal of benefit for managers and team
leaders in Empowerment.

Empowerment is about utilising the knowledge, skill,
experience and motivation power that's already within your
people.

The majority of people in teams and organisations
throughout the world are severely underutilised. Your team
have probably more to offer in terms of skill, knowledge and
experience.

Put this to the test right away - implement these steps,
motivate your team and achieve your business goals.