Why December is the Crucial Month for Getting Your Team Energised for 2023
The past three years have been incredibly challenging for everyone, and as 2022 comes to an end, it's time to think about how to feel energised going into 2023 and look at the steps you can take towards the next evolution within your business.
Now is the best time to start assessing how you want the next year to play out. It might not seem this way - as traditionally most people are racing towards the Christmas break and are just looking forward to hitting that ‘finish line’, but then what?
The issue with this approach is there’s a high chance people come back and hit the post-Christmas slump. That first month back from the holiday season can be when motivation is at lower levels than usual.
But this typical scenario can be changed.
If people know that there’s going to be positive change happening from January, they go into their break in an optimistic mood and come out of the holidays feeling really up for it. The important part is to secure those plans now, rather than just talking about them.
A few ways you can start now to re-energise for 2023:
Encourage and support new ideas – Ask you teams ‘what could be better’. Asking for new ideas now will empower everyone in your business and build excitement towards achieving those goals in the year to come. Plus, team members end the year feeling heard and appreciated.
Don’t be afraid of change – if something isn’t working, show action by making a plan now to address it, rather than let any tension simmer over the break. Look at your systems and processes and plan to try something new in 2023.
Set three priorities - don’t overload everyone with a massive priority to-do list in the new year. Make it easy to visualise the benefits and ensure it is achievable.
Celebrate your achievements - take time to recognise and reward the positives that have happened this year as you head into the new year.
Make a plan to stay connected - Build in activities for your team that focus on building connection & trust, especially in January to give everyone something to look forward to.
Invigorate your office space - working from home will still be happening, but think about updating and invigorating the office and make it feel like an energising space for when people return to work.
The concept of encouraging new ideas is not new, of course, however the key to this is to really listen, and to act on those ideas.
People like to be heard, right? And if you have an organisation where it feels like you’re just bouncing your ideas against a brick wall, then you get disheartened.
But if you put in the time and effort at the beginning of each year to reconnect and communicate with your employees, it can really make a big difference to how they approach the upcoming months.
Think about it. With employee involvement, they're the ones who have to live it every day. There's no one who knows what they do for a customer or service better than the people who are in it, so it makes sense that they would contribute to solving the problems.
This creates a positive mindset and there are many studies on optimism that prove its positive benefits. A Leadership IQ study of more than 11,000 employees found that having certain mindsets, like optimism, can increase engagement and happiness at work even more than working for a great manager.
I would also be collecting data now with the team and asking ‘what are the big things that we need to solve?’ What are the things that are really getting in our way?
It might be cultural issues, it might be systems issues or process issues. This is where data can be a massive help and when you come back in January, you can formulate a plan around just solving one of those problems and engage the team in the strategy to solve it.
And don’t forget, that values alignment needs to be revisited, along with company vision, which provides a sense of purpose and direction for your whole business.
Personally, I love this time of year. I really do. It’s the perfect time to reset some key elements of the business.
How do we work? What do we stand for? Who are we in this team and what are we trying to achieve?
And when you see the results, and you do the annual refresh, you know exactly how empowering it can be for everyone involved.