The magical "in-between" week

Last week, we talked about what people can do on their own in the office during the holidays. This week is the "in-between" week from December 26 to January 2, a week when many businesses have a lot of down time. What can a whole office do with down time? Lots!

Stephen Covey recognized the value of downtime in his bestseller The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Covey’s designated seventh habit is the one that ensures all the other six work. He named it “sharpening the saw” after the parable of a lumberjack who exhausted himself trying to cut down a tree with a dull saw, wasting hours of backbreaking work rather than taking a few minutes to sharpen his blade.

After this year in particular, we're all feeling worn down and worn out. The economy has forced the downsizing of most businesses, which means the average worker’s workload has increased. Everyone in your office could probably use a bit of sharpening.

Some options:

• Clean out old files and file the papers that have piled up over the past year. You'll get a safer, cleaner, more workable space that engenders a feeling of optimism and productivity. You can also do a file cleanout on your network servers as well; rotating old files into offsite archives and cleaning up your file directories will make work easier and faster in the coming year.
  
• Inventory software, install updates or new programs. You can do this concurrently with cleaning out your physical files or one of the other activities. Updating or installing software in a non-busy time has the additional benefit that any subsequent conflicts or crashes won’t interrupt crucial, billable work.
  
• Training! Many businesses have a required amount of training to be done every year; doing it now means you’ll make the most of down time and ensure that your business makes its deadline. Also, allowing employees to select and pursue non-required training not only improves the quality of their work, it increases their sense of loyalty to the company, and that can come in handy when the economy improves.
  
• Do team-building exercises. You don’t have to do a ropes course or fall into each other’s outstretched arms. The best type of team-building exercise is one that involves all your staff members in solving a problem in a creative way. One great resource for possible team challenges is Destination Imagination, a nationwide initiative for problem-solving. Destination Imagination was designed for students, but their challenges work just as well for adult employees.

In this economy, many managers might be reluctant to spend overhead dollars on activities that don’t seem essential to the business. Think of it this way: In operations management, a line’s maximum production is always greater than its optimal production. Similarly, your maximum heart rate is always larger than your training heart rate. The reasons for both are identical: a system can run at its maximum, but not for very long before it breaks down.

Investing some overhead in sharpening the saw now can yield rewards in the new year (and a hopefully improved economy).

Does your company have any plans to sharpen the saw? Let me know in the comments!