Blog Post

Digital Recharge | Preparing for a Stress Free December

by: Grayson Lafrenz December 5, 2016

Table of Contents

The holidays should be the best time of the year, however if you’re not prepared, it can quickly become a stressful and hectic couple of weeks. At Power Digital, we have several strategies to stay ahead of the game, so we can enjoy a stress-free holiday with friends and family. Here are some helpful tips to keep in mind, now that the holiday season is quickly approaching.

Getting Ahead

Sync calendar with goals and workflow: Since December is a shorter month in the office, I like to sit down and go over my main goals for the month as well as the year. Generally I will block out a large chunk of my schedule, to ensure I stay on track for meeting my allocated workflow and deadlines. This allows me to stay productive and focused so I’m not cramming to complete a million of projects right before the holiday season.

Don’t be afraid to say No: Since this month is extremely busy in and out of the office, I have learned that in certain situations saying no is okay. If there is a meeting that I know will not further benefit a situation or get me closer to a goal, than I am less likely to force it into my schedule. I try to keep the month of December as open as possible, allowing for any last minute opportunities or conflicts.

Reflect on your past year: I have found it to be extremely motivating to go back and reflect on the past year. Reminiscing on where the company was at the beginning of last year and looking at where it is now brings a strong feel of accomplishment. I use this as inspiration to look forward at 2017 and set new goals for the year to come.

Rallying Your Team

Provide incentives: A huge reason that Power Digital employees stay motivated throughout the end of the year is the incentives we offer. We do this through competitions, bonuses, and extra days off.

Set deadlines: We will offer days off to the team if they are able to advance passed normal workflow before a specific date. If they are working really hard to efficiently finish their tasks, then everyone will be able to go into the holidays without worrying about looming deadlines and projects. We remind everyone daily and weekly of our set deadlines to provide motivation for a stress-free holiday.

Don’t forget to check-in: Checking in keeps everyone accountable. Whether this means reporting to their team members or conversing with their clients, communication is key when planning out a busy schedule.

Prepping Your Clients

We use the goals that we have implemented to dictate our work flow. That means we are always able to plan accordingly and use these goals to get the same amount of work done in a shorter period of time!

Remind clients of Deliverables: We let our clients know that we will be available for them. It is important to let them know that we are focused on their accounts but, but our schedules will be busier going into the holiday season.

Share plans: Reviewing scheduling conflicts on both ends is very important going into the holidays. That way any meetings or calls can be done well before everyone goes home for the break.

Deliver work early: We like to go into the holiday with as little stress as possible. We do this by getting our work done early so both the employees at Power Digital and our clients can fully enjoy their holiday break.

Provide additional contact information: I like to tell my clients to shoot me a text over the holidays if they have any concerns or worries about their accounts. This is the quickest way for communication when I am not in the office or at my computer.

During the holiday season, I have learned that most of our clients are pretty quiet when it comes to emails. I take full advantage of this slower time to plan and refocus targeted goals to stay prepared throughout the new year.

Thanks For Plugging In!

We hope this helps you out! Keep an eye out for our next episode of Power Digital’s Digital Recharge, where we update you on the latest news and trends in the digital marketing world. We’ll be back with more very soon, but if you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to us at [email protected]!