Image courtesy of Benjamin Watson’s photostream
It is officially the most wonderful time of year! With the holidays approaching fast, your personal life starts to get a little crazy. Add in a busy work schedule and it makes you want to crawl under your bed and hide until the New Year’s start. Don’t let the stress of the holidays affect you in the office.
Here are some recommendations to dealing with the stress of the holidays in the work place.
Plan ahead
If you are planning to take so time off, make sure you plan accordingly. Set due dates a couple days early. Don’t set a due date the day before you take 5 days off. You could have a project that comes up last minute and you will need to devote your time to that instead of your previous agenda.
Know your team member’s vacation plans
Start planning now and have your team submit their vacation requests for the holiday. Your office will not close down because half of the workers have taken their vacations around then so it is better to be prepared and know who will be in the office and who won’t. It will also be good to know who is in the office and who isn’t so when you’re working on something and you need assistance or have questions you are not scrambling trying to find someone that can help you.
Extended deadline times
Motivation can be at an all-time low around the holidays. Encourage team members to choose deadline times a little earlier or see if deadlines can be pushed to after the holidays. You never know what can come up at the last minute. Team members will be more engaged in their work after the holidays and can focus without the added stress of what is happening in their personal lives.
Work around the holidays
It seems like everyone likes to take time off around the holidays but if you don’t have any reason to; go to work. It is a great time to catch up on projects. Why you ask? Staffing is limited and you can get work done faster and without as many distractions.
Decorate the office to bright extra holiday cheer
Playing holiday music, decorating the office and having holiday goodies will lighten the mood in the office at this chaotic time of year and bring holiday cheer.
It’s important to enjoy the holiday season but equally as important to focus on work and make sure you and your work are not falling behind. Following these simple recommendations will bring you and your office holiday cheer!