The holiday season brings many challenges to productivity. People have family obligations that require travel and spend a lot of time shopping, decorating, and trying to keep everything organized. They may also be attempting to use up any remaining vacation time before the end of the year. That means employees are out of the office a lot and when they are in the office, they can be distracted.

Here are a Few Ideas to Keep your Workplace Running Smoothly

Streamline your business. Focus on the essentials through the end of the year, whether that means hitting your sales numbers or a production goal. Eliminate distractions that can cause you and your team to take your eyes off the ball. Don't get distracted by details that don't bring the organization closer to its goals. Narrow focus to the most essential to keep employees on track.

How Can You Achieve This Goal?

Eliminate Unnecessary Meetings

This is never a bad idea, but especially important when people are stressed and stretched thin. Every meeting removes people from their core tasks -- not just the meeting itself, but preparation before and analysis after. Some meetings can even involve travel time. Consider if the meeting can be replaced with an email or phone call. For example, if you have a few employees who are frequently late, have a conversation with them about the issue. Don't call a 45 minute all-hands meeting on the chronic lateness problem in the company.

Clearly Communicate Time Off

A shared vacation calendar can be invaluable to those who need to coordinate tasks or projects with other employees. It is challenging to get work done if you don't know when the people you need are out of the office. It can also help avoid an entire department being out of the office at once.

Celebrate After the Holidays

A company party sounds fun, except when it feels like just one more obligation. Schedule a nice event in January when the holiday dust has settled and it becomes more of a treat. It's easier to stay in the moment than when you're not worried about the gifts you still need to wrap or the trip you need to pack for. Another advantage is if you typically host parties in an event space, you may get a discount as well.

Add Some Temporary Help

If you're short-handed over the holidays or year-end is your crunch time, you can bring in qualified temporary staff to pick up the slack. It can save on overtime and prevent employers from being overwhelmed by a backlog of work when they return from time off. If you're planning to hire in the new year, you can bring in temporary-to-hire employees to try on the job to take the risk out of hiring.

Whether you need temporary help over the holidays or are hiring in the new year, PrideStaff is here to help. Contact us today and let us take care of the legwork, so you can focus on other priorities.