With extra time off requests, increased purchases, and urgent customer service needs, the holiday season can be a busy time of year for any business. But for those seasonal businesses or businesses where sales really pick up at the end of the year, workload management can be a combination of responsibilities.
To help busy businesses better plan their time and improve overall productivity, eight members of Council for Young Entrepreneurs share their best advice below. Consider these tips if you and your business are starting to feel a little overwhelmed by the heavy workload of the holiday season.
Members pictured from left to right.
Photos courtesy of the individual members.
1. Balance the workload with time to rest and recharge
Businesses all over the world have long to-do lists when it comes to preparing for the holidays, but one thing that shouldn’t be forgotten in the hustle and bustle of activity is workload management. Teamwork makes light work, so it’s essential to support your team by budgeting their workload wisely and setting expectations for holiday planning at the start of the season. This can help prevent burnout while still ensuring that your company meets its goals in a timely manner. Team morale will remain high during this hectic time if everyone knows what is expected of them and is given quality time to relax and recharge, as achieving a good work-life balance has never been easier. been so important. – Renato Agrella, Acera Consulting
2. Get the whole team on the same page
The holidays can be a very busy and stressful time for businesses. One of the best ways to manage the increased workload in these times is to get your entire team on the same page. This includes setting clear expectations about what each person is responsible for, setting priorities, and communicating openly with everyone involved. In addition, it is important to build some extra time into your schedules so that you are not completely overwhelmed by deadlines and still have room for flexibility if needed. By implementing these tips, businesses can successfully manage their workload during the holiday season and stay productive during the hectic months ahead. – Adam Preiser, WPCrafter
3. Outsource what you can
Outsourcing is often the best solution for companies that see a surge in sales during the holiday season. There are a number of reasons why. First, it can help free up internal resources. Companies that outsource their operations can focus on their core competencies. Secondly, outsourcing can help to ensure quality. When activities are managed by a third-party provider, accountability is generally expected. Finally, outsourcing can give companies access to a larger pool of talent. This is especially beneficial for companies that don’t have the internal resources to handle a larger workload. – Sujay Pawar, CartFlows
4. Automate processes to free up resources
The best thing about running a seasonal business, or one where you can accurately predict fluctuations in demand, is that you can plan for those busy periods. This enables you to automate processes to free up time, people and resources that can then be deployed to handle the increased demand for your products or services. Consider what can be prepared in the slower months leading up to the holiday season and highlight any inefficiencies within the company that need to be addressed before things get too busy. – Diana Goodwin, MarketBox
5. Plan your ‘Backup Crew’
An important part of managing your workload during the holidays is determining who supports others. This is important for a number of reasons. First, you may need to call in the backup crew if things get very busy. Secondly, people also have a life during the holidays. You need backup people to handle things when others are going to see their child’s Nativity play, go to a family party, and attend other things. Also, a main calendar is essential for all these types of notes. It should be on the computer and available to everyone in a common area. This improves communication and prevents too many people taking off at the same time. An employee who sees when two have already requested an afternoon off knows that they cannot request the same thing. – Baruch Labunski, Rank safe
6. Use interns for extra help
Announcing trainee programs prior to the holiday season can work. As work skyrockets during the holiday season, you need as many hands as possible to keep the needle moving. In addition, you do not want the experienced players on your team to deal with administrative work. It’s best to use their experience and skills for tasks that require strategic input and planning. So it would be great to offer them help in delegating and managing tasks effortlessly. This can help you keep up with the workload during the holiday season without experiencing burnout. – Stephanie Wells, Formidable shapes
7. Prioritize bottlenecks
While it’s easy to jump from project to project and tackle them one at a time, the greatest opportunities come from helping to solve bottlenecks for your team. This ensures a continuous flow of productivity on projects, so that fewer things fall through the cracks. This is especially important for managers and leadership as it allows the rest of the team to maximize their progress and output. When your staff has the approval and resources to perform their duties, they can easily carry out their projects even during busy seasons because there are fewer barriers to success. – Firas Kittaneh, Amerisleep mattress
8. Use the rest of the year to plan ahead
There are many companies that do well in the last quarter of the year and many companies also see the bulk of their earnings dent in these three months. When companies follow a cyclical journey, it is important to identify the peaks and troughs and know how to prepare in advance. When the holiday season is at the core of your business, the rest of the year is not a time to rest, but a time to make sure the right processes are in place, all resources are properly allocated, all marketing collateral is ready to go. the sales market and that your team can easily manage the workload. The nature of business can be incredibly reactive based on the many variables out there, but knowing your customers’ buying patterns and habits will help you plan ahead and mitigate contingencies. – Richard Conte, Virtual stream
