The New Year is here and one of the worst periods in our history is hopefully starting to move behind us. Now’s a good time to hit the reset button and refocus your team. How can you boost morale and engage your staff after such a difficult season? Here are some steps to consider:
Reconnect after time off.
If your employees took vacations over the holidays, then it’s going to take a little bit of time to build up cohesion again with your staff. Facilitate the process by talking to each one individually to catch up, and also scheduling a group chat to re-establish relationships. This will help your employees hit the ground running and ramp up productivity faster after the holiday break.
Focus on areas you want to improve.
If there have been aspects of your team you’ve noticed are weak or need work, such as communication, this is the year to change the dynamic. Your employees are focused on a fresh start and resolutions in their own lives, so it makes sense to continue that concept in the workplace. Capture the momentum by working team-wide to create a few resolutions surrounding areas where you’d like your people to focus their attention and effort. You can even take it a step further and schedule a team-building day around them.
Discuss new ideas.
Now that your employees are back to work after the holidays, it’s also a good time to talk about new ideas for the year ahead. You certainly have your own, but also bring your team into the conversation and ask for their thoughts. They’ll be more vested in your future plans when they have a seat at the table to discuss them. You can even incorporate a day or multi-day program in the beginning of the year to discuss the company’s plans for the year ahead.
Deal with any conflict.
If last year ended on a negative note, identify why and deal with it. If there are any interpersonal conflicts within your team, you need to help navigate through them if you want the year ahead to be a success. In addition, if employees were facing any challenging situations or weren’t getting the support and help they needed from you, it’s important to find out what happened and why. So take some time to talk to each employee individually about the good and bad of 2020 and what they envision for the year ahead.
When you spend a little time in the beginning of the year to engage your team and get them excited, it will pay off in the long run. Your employees will be better positioned to work together and will also have a clear vision for the company in 2021. In addition, they’ll have a chance to voice their ideas and opinions, so they feel like valuable contributors to the team. It’s a great way to begin a New – and hopefully better – Year!
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