Keeping Workers’ Attention During the Holidays

Posted on Dec 13, 2011

Holiday season craziness combined with Dec. 31 year-end (or quarter-end) pressures push many a corporate leader over the edge. Amid holiday travel planning, online shopping, and in-office good cheer, it’s too easy to let the actual work slide until after the holidays. How can you make employees focus on their responsibilities rather than the tins of vendor-donated holiday treats? Here are five tips to help managers foster some yuletide fellowship without sinking the departmental-objectives boat.   Talk About It Wise managers will chat with their teams about the December game plan, making sure that goals for the month are realistic and well-communicated. The month of December vies with the lazy days of summer for the time when concentration among team members drops to an annual low. Clarify your group’s objectives for the month, assign person-by-person to-dos and timelines, and plan a celebration for when the goals are met. That way, your folks can enjoy their holiday merry-making and have a good shot at getting some work done, too.   <br<Be Clear About Gifts and Outings For many a corporate supervisor and HR professional, holiday lunch and holiday gift issues cause heartburn, rife as they are with elements of fairness (or perceived unfairness), appropriateness, and the risk of hurt feelings. If your company lacks a gift-giving policy or guidelines on departmental lunches and other outings around the holidays, talk over the issues and agree on a simple and logical plan. If your organization hosts a holiday party, ditto. That way, you can prevent holiday-merriment misunderstandings or perceived slights from becoming the soap opera topic for your team in December. Continue Reading From Businessweek.com