The buzz and hype over the New Year is pretty much over, and chances are, so are many people’s resolutions. But as the “new year, new me” approach begins to revert back to a “new year, same me” mentality, your agency shouldn’t feel the same drag. As your employees may be feeling a little tired of the same old routine and motivation from their client’s new year’s campaigns lose momentum, there’s opportunity for you as a leader to offer inspiration and excitement.
Implementing a few facelifts around the office can be just what is needed to give your team members a fresh outlook. Here are a few ideas we’ve used, and a few we haven’t that can help you make things exciting again.
- Add fun to the meeting mix. Though you won’t have time in large, all-staff type meetings, try starting smaller departmental and team meetings out with an icebreaker. Ashort question that can spark a little conversation can help get our minds working, creativity flowing, and spark some inspiration that may even offer new concepts for campaigns and projects. You can find a myriad of books full of icebreaker questions or just Google it, and you’ll find a handful of questions to kick-start your discussions.
- Put down electronics. Feeling like everyone is tuning you out and typing away at meeting? If you think they’re answering other emails and surfing the web, they probably are. So what can you do about it? Ask them to close all computers, put away phones, and start bringing notepads and pens to meetings. Eliminating distractions may actually shorten meeting times and encourage focus on the topics at hand. Meanwhile, they can doodle and write all they want, stimulating creativity as they go into project mode. It seems drastic, but it’s really not, and you may be surprise by the increased efficiency of meetings.
- Take 15-30 minutes each day for free play. Whether your employees choose to spend that time going for a walk outside, playing board games with each other, or scrolling through social feeds, encouraging them to take time for themselves, and get the lure of those distractions out of the way, can help boost focus and concentration on the projects that matter most.
- Get social. Once a week, or maybe just once a month, one employee takes over your agency’s social feeds. Give them some inspiration for posts, or “spoiler alerts” they can divulge about projects they’re working, a little cash to go out to lunch with another co-worker, and any support they need to share a “day in the life” of an employee at your company. Side note: if you’re hiring, this engaging tactic might be just the thing you need to get the most fun, creative minds knocking at your door.
- Listen to your team. If you’re not doing any type of employee surveys, you’re definitely missing a very important opportunity to understand your employees’ satisfaction. We’ve talked about employee engagement and satisfaction on our blog before, as it’s an important part of our culture here at LaneTerralever. But as you probably well know, there’s so many ways to engage with your employees and help them grow and perform their best, there’s no doubt you’ll find something that works. But don’t stick to the same old song and dance. If you’ve got a new tactic you’d like to try, give it a shot. There’s never a bad time to get feedback and work to improve management and operations.
Hopefully you find one of these tips helpful, not just in the month of January, but throughout the year as well. Try one at a time, or throw them all in at once, and you might find that something really works for your team. You can learn more about company culture on our blog.
