In recent years there has been a bit of a trend to setting aside certain days for employees to focus on completing projects. Some large software companies devote these days to allowing employees to focus on personal interest projects, while others encourage employees to give back to their communities by volunteering during work time. On a smaller scale other companies agree to not hold meetings or other activities that can distract employees thus allowing them to focus completely on the task at hand.
These work days can be incredibly productive if approached in the right way. First, while Fridays may seem like an ideal day to schedule a work day, there are a number of potential problems with this. Number one, your employees are human and they are looking forward to the weekend. Forget external distractions, that is a big internal distraction they are bringing into the room with them. People are more likely to call in sick on a Friday so that they can have a three day weekend, so absenteeism can be an issue. Another distraction is the concept of “Fun Friday”, people inherently expect a Friday activity to be enjoyable. If there truly is a lot of work to be done it can quickly start to feel dull and create a negative atmosphere in the room. We would also caution against choosing Monday as your work day. Mondays can be tough enough all on their own. Let employees ease back into the work week before you ask them to tackle large, time consuming projects. Once you’ve chosen an appropriate day for your work day you can begin planning.
Location is important. Many companies try to get everyone together in one large room to work. This can be great if multiple need to coordinate on one project. If everyone is working on individual projects however, this can be distracting and counterproductive. Consider what you are hoping to accomplish before you decide whether to co-locate or not. Whether you get everyone together to work or leave them in their own spaces you should get everyone together for lunch. You can either invite everyone to a restaurant or have a meal delivered. Not only is this a nice way to say thank you for the efforts of your employees, it can everyone a chance to connect and share ideas about the work they are doing. For more on the importance of team building, review our previous post here.
Now that you’ve decided on a day and a location, it’s time to focus on the brass tacks. You need to have a plan of what each employee is going to work on and what tools they will need to complete their project. Nothing derails a work day faster than realizing that someone lacks the materials they need to get the job done. Talk about disruptive. You don’t want someone running around trying to gather materials or making calls in an attempt to gather information while others are trying to focus. Gather all the necessary materials and information prior to work day so that your staff is ready to hit the ground running. Remember our advice on technology? Use those tools to handle advanced coordination.
Now that you have everything you need and a plan in place you’re ready to make the most of your work day. Depending on the needs of your business you can have the occasional work day or you can make it a regularly scheduled event. It may not go perfectly the first time out but you’ll be able to take notes and make improvements so that in no time at all you’ll be hosting highly productive, successful events.
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