It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

It's the most wonderful time of the year

With the kids jingle belling

And everyone telling you "Be of good cheer"

It's the most wonderful time of the year

It's the hap-happiest season of all

With those holiday greetings and gay happy meetings

When friends come to call

It's the hap- happiest season of all

Lyrics by George Wyle c. 1963

Unfortunately, at work, this is probably also The Most High Stress-ful Time of the Year. There’s a seemingly endless list of things to do to wrap up the calendar year, and in many cases, the fiscal year. At the same time you have important demands put on you by your family and friends, you are racing the clock to finish a list of time-sensitive goals at work.

Time has run out. You have to account for your goals for the year, and document accomplishments for the boss’s review. It’s important to complete performance reviews for all of your team members, which requires time and thought, and a lot of paperwork. HR is asking for your evaluations for dispersal of bonuses. You probably have to be in a position to report your actual spending compared to your departmental budget. It’s time to bestow thoughtful gifts to your management team, and send corporate greeting cards to vendors. There’s the holiday gathering sponsored by the company, and the lunch, happy hour, and dinner invitations from colleagues and business partners – numerous opportunities to eat and drink to excess.

To add a little additional pressure, your vacation begins in a few days, you still have shopping to do for your loved ones, you need to pick-up your in-laws from the airport, and you might be coming down with the flu. Sigh.

So what do you do? At this point, you power through it, like you do every year. Then you promise yourself to do things differently in the New Year. You make this pledge:

NEXT YEAR I WILL...
Update my goals and accomplishments monthly,
Keep quarterly notes about employee performance,
Prepare regular budget reports comparing my budget to my actual monthly spending,
Shop early for gifts for my management team,
Delegate holiday cards to an assistant,
Show restraint in my holiday diet and beverage consumption,
Get lots of sleep and pace myself for the December grind,
&
Be thankful I am so busy and gainfully employed!

Happy Holidays, and good luck closing out 2011.

Time to Hunker Down

The holidays are but a memory, the Super Bowl has ended the NFL season, and even January White Sales are a thing of the past. Spring Training and March Madness are a tantalizing month away. Most of the country is locked inside the grip of winter’s snow, ice, slush, gray, and chill. This time of year is kind of a bummer.

It’s a great time to hunker down and be productive at work! C’mon, what else is there to do? You have finished all the end-of-calendar-year insanity, like annual reviews, evaluation of performance against goals, bonus recommendations, and analysis of actual spending against budgets. It’s been over a month since you rang in the New Year with an exhausted sigh. Now it’s the Chinese Year of the Rabbit – so get hopping!

With a fresh budget, newly established goals, and fewer fun distractions, it’s time to hunker down and be productive. You’re already well into the first quarter of the year, and you need something to show for it. Be sure your goals are prioritized, that your team understands where to spend their individual and collective energy, and has bought into the importance of project deadlines.

Don’t forget… People may still feel a little let down after the end of the year. You can do something for them that costs you nothing. Express kind thanks for their efforts and earned results. Be specific about what you appreciate. They need to know that what they do is noticed, and not taken for granted. You would be surprised at the positive impact that can come from a little kindness and recognition. I once delivered hand-written, personalized Thank You notes to everyone on my project team. Many of those notes were displayed on cubical walls for years afterward.

Pulling together to accomplish goals and celebrating successes is what builds a team. Take advantage of the natural lull in the air this time of year to hunker down and get things done.

Time for a Mid-Year Review

It’s already July. Half of the calendar year is gone. You know what that means, don’t you? It's time to assess what you have accomplished at work so far this year, and how you are going to make the most of the next six months. Although the year is only half gone, the time has come to start making plans for 2011 goals and budgets, so you'd better be sure you have 2010 solidly in hand.

Don’t let another month go by before doing the following:

REVIEW SPENDING & REMAINING BUDGET: Figure out whether your expenses are falling into line in comparison to your budget. Determine whether the pace of your spending will keep you on track through to the end of the year. Did you budget major expenses that you do not have a solid plan to spend? Have you earmarked your capital expenditures for action? If your goals changed in a way that affects spending, figure out whether you need to “give back” any approved funds. Remember, although being grossly under budget may come as a nice surprise to someone in your finance department, it reeks of bad planning – just like being over budget. Make whatever adjustments are necessary to put you in line at the end of the year. If approved mandates have pushed you over budget, make adjustments in other categories if possible, or be sure that all the right people are aware of the impact of the coming discrepancy.

ASSESS PROGRESS AGAINST PERFORMANCE GOALS: You committed to achieving specific things this year. Have you kept your eye on the ball? Are you accomplishing the things you must accomplish, or spending too much time on things you find more appealing? Be realistic when analyzing how well you are doing toward meeting your goals. Document proof of what you have achieved. If you need to realign your daily efforts with your goals – do so now, because October/November will be too late. Post your goals somewhere you can’t help but see them every day. If you’re stuck in the mud – find help from a mentor or a supportive colleague.

PROVIDE FEEDBACK TO EMPLOYEES: Your team members deserve structured feedback more than the once a year they get a formal review. Schedule opportunities to touch base with all your direct reports during the middle of the year (assuming you are still several months away from their performance review). Your goal should be to give honest feedback, coaching, advice, and/or direction that allow them to make any necessary adjustments BEFORE their formal review. No one should be blindsided about issues at the end of the year when decisions are being made about performance ratings/rankings and pay increases based on merit.

SEEK FEEDBACK FROM YOUR BOSS: Touch base with your supervisor to be sure his/her expectations are still in line with your plan and goals. This is the time to know if you need to change gears or refocus your energy and efforts.

Dive into the rest of this year armed with a renewed sense of planning. Don’t let the second half of 2010 get away from you!