Effective People Management in the Run Up to Christmas

12.10.2015

Every year as Christmas approaches trees and decorations begin to appear in offices all over the country, and the atmosphere begins to change as the festive mood grows stronger.

With the holidays imminent, staff are increasingly occupied with shopping for and planning their own Christmas celebrations, and both day-to-day tasks and important projects can struggle to win their rightful place in the hearts and minds of your increasingly excited and distracted workers.

Keeping your team on track and on target and ensuring that responsibilities continue to be met and priorities are not forgotten need not be a challenge. Here's a few tips to help keep everybody thoroughly motivated without disturbing the mood.

Plan for the rush well before it hits

December can place pressure on staff to complete four weeks' work in three, and this can lead to mistakes or rushed work. Both can negatively affect the staff and reduce productivity, so try to get as much work out of the way in October and November so there is not a mad pre-Christmas rush to clear desks.

Staffing levels and leave

Good planning will help alleviate pressure on you and your team. Be sure that you know which team members are scheduled for leave, and which ones will and won't be available when you need them. Spread holidays out over as many weeks as possible to ensure that work can continue at near-optimum levels.

Remember that at this time of year most workers will not be keen to put in any extra hours, and that many people will want to pad out the natural holiday with extra days from their leave entitlement to take as long a break as they can.

Many companies give each member of staff a day or two to take off work in December. You will need to decide well in advance who is off on what days to minimise bad feeling if someone is unable to have it their way, and you need a system that is fair to everybody because someone will usually end up being disappointed.

So, first put up a schedule that details each worker's off days so that you and others can see at a glance who is in, and avoid a situation where too many people are away on any given day.

Next, working out a clearly defined policy for days off several months ahead will make it easy for staff to adjust their plans in plenty of time. It doesn't really matter what your system is (priority for those with young families, priority for those who are travelling a long way to visit family, first come first served) it just needs to be well-publicised several months ahead and applied fairly.

Do try to make sure that everyone gets as close to what they want as possible. If you have 'clashes' (where too many people want the same day), then see if you can bring the people concerned together to see if the situation can be resolved. If someone is going to have to compromise and not have all the time they want then it's better to make this random (drawing straws) rather than asking for volunteers.

The better you prepare the staff a few months down the line, the easier it will be for them to fit their work commitments into their own plans for the holidays.

Flexi-time for shopping?

It could well be that people don't need a whole day so do consider half days. And do also consider letting staff come in late or go early or take a longer lunch so that they can shop during peak hours.

Closing altogether?

Depending on your workforce you might just find it preferable to shut up the shop altogether during the Christmas period. Most people will relish a week with their families over the festive season. But again, do talk to all of your team well in advance. You might find that young and single members of staff are actually happy to provide cover during the Christmas period in return for more time off in the Summer months.

The End Of Year Christmas Party

A party is a great boost for staff morale, but it is effectively a half day's holiday at work. So try to make sure that there is at least some phone or emergency cover. And, if you are planning celebrations at the office then you might need to make sure that event preparation and setup doesn't take up too much time.

Give the planning responsibility to a small team of employees who can take the time to organise everything - and make sure that each of them has the space in their schedule to do this. Not every staff member needs to be involved, and most can continue their normal duties until the party begins.

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