Plan Now for an End of Year Recharge
Wednesday, December 7, 2011 by Deirdre Reid
What’s your office like during the last week of December? Are you closed? Or is it business as usual? It might be if you have looming conference or meeting deadlines. Or you might stay open, but it’s quiet since so many employees and members are on holiday vacation.
Quiet times are great for cleaning and organizing, but why not do more, like starting a new more meaningful office tradition.
How often do you have time to read, think deeply and come up with new ideas and solutions? Do you ever have time to recharge?
Maybe you’re lucky and do that regularly, but many association folks are too busy to think. They’re at the mercy of their Outlook calendar. The to-do list takes priority over the luxury of reading and thinking. What’s worse, during these past few years of recession, associations had to lay off staff, leaving those behind with even more to do.
Another consequence of budget-tightening: professional development budgets took a hit too. At a time when we need it most, we’re too busy to think and can’t afford to learn.
Make time to read
Self-motivated professionals find low-budget ways to learn on their own time, but why not encourage a culture of growth and learning by making time for that in everyone’s schedule?
Kathleen Tinworth, Director of Visitor Research & Program Evaluation at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, sets aside a few hours every other Tuesday morning for staff reading time. “I read blogs and articles online, but others mostly read traditional journals.” Reading time helps her team stay current, and: “Encourages dialogue in ways we don’t typically have in my office. This has led to new projects and ideas — all stemming from breaking out of our routines.”
Break the routine with recharge week
Let’s kick Kathleen’s idea up a notch: dedicate several days, perhaps the last week of December, to a staff recharge. We all need time and space to break from the usual busyness and let our minds relax and expand, reflect, plan, make connections, work through challenges, gain new perspective and get creative.
Schedule a blend of free time and group activities. To ensure the week’s success:
Association recharge activities
Book club: Select a few reading options ahead of time – books, articles, blog posts, or even videos, for example, TED talks – for group discussions.
Brainstorming: Take advantage of stimulated minds by scheduling brainstorming sessions later in the week to tackle challenges or solicit new ideas.
Arts and crafts: Get creative juices flowing with arts and crafts activities on site, at local pottery studios or other artisanal venues.
Day in the field: Spend a day with a member. Even administrative, accounting, HR and IT staff could visit their counterparts.
Field trips: Get out of the office for small group discussions in odd places: hike, picnic, museum or gallery, historical site, zoo, train or RV excursion.
Show and tell: Share insights and discoveries during the week with each other.
Visiting lecturers: Bring in interesting minds from the outside for lunchtime discussions.
After the week is over, ask staff for their thoughts about how the week affected them, what worked and what could be improved for next year.
If dedicating an entire week is too much, try taking a day or two for intentional reflection, learning and planning. Why? Proust said it well:
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”
Has your organization ever attempted anything like this? What would you do during a recharge week?
Deirdre Reid, CAE is a freelance writer who looks forward to her recharge days at the end of this year.
Quiet times are great for cleaning and organizing, but why not do more, like starting a new more meaningful office tradition.
How often do you have time to read, think deeply and come up with new ideas and solutions? Do you ever have time to recharge?
Maybe you’re lucky and do that regularly, but many association folks are too busy to think. They’re at the mercy of their Outlook calendar. The to-do list takes priority over the luxury of reading and thinking. What’s worse, during these past few years of recession, associations had to lay off staff, leaving those behind with even more to do.
Another consequence of budget-tightening: professional development budgets took a hit too. At a time when we need it most, we’re too busy to think and can’t afford to learn.
Make time to read
Self-motivated professionals find low-budget ways to learn on their own time, but why not encourage a culture of growth and learning by making time for that in everyone’s schedule?
Kathleen Tinworth, Director of Visitor Research & Program Evaluation at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, sets aside a few hours every other Tuesday morning for staff reading time. “I read blogs and articles online, but others mostly read traditional journals.” Reading time helps her team stay current, and: “Encourages dialogue in ways we don’t typically have in my office. This has led to new projects and ideas — all stemming from breaking out of our routines.”
Break the routine with recharge week
Let’s kick Kathleen’s idea up a notch: dedicate several days, perhaps the last week of December, to a staff recharge. We all need time and space to break from the usual busyness and let our minds relax and expand, reflect, plan, make connections, work through challenges, gain new perspective and get creative.
Schedule a blend of free time and group activities. To ensure the week’s success:
- Get leadership buy-in.
- Recruit an organizational team to prepare for the week and coordinate activities.
- Work on individual, departmental and association goals for the week.
- Collaborate on a guiding list of questions and discussion topics.
- Create quiet reading areas throughout the office.
- Tell leadership, members and the public that your office will be closed.
- Set email and phones to Out of Office. Plan in advance how staff will reply to critical emails, calls or social media alerts.
Association recharge activities
Book club: Select a few reading options ahead of time – books, articles, blog posts, or even videos, for example, TED talks – for group discussions.
Brainstorming: Take advantage of stimulated minds by scheduling brainstorming sessions later in the week to tackle challenges or solicit new ideas.
Arts and crafts: Get creative juices flowing with arts and crafts activities on site, at local pottery studios or other artisanal venues.
Day in the field: Spend a day with a member. Even administrative, accounting, HR and IT staff could visit their counterparts.
Field trips: Get out of the office for small group discussions in odd places: hike, picnic, museum or gallery, historical site, zoo, train or RV excursion.
Show and tell: Share insights and discoveries during the week with each other.
Visiting lecturers: Bring in interesting minds from the outside for lunchtime discussions.
After the week is over, ask staff for their thoughts about how the week affected them, what worked and what could be improved for next year.
If dedicating an entire week is too much, try taking a day or two for intentional reflection, learning and planning. Why? Proust said it well:
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”
Has your organization ever attempted anything like this? What would you do during a recharge week?
Deirdre Reid, CAE is a freelance writer who looks forward to her recharge days at the end of this year.
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Deirdre Reid
Deirdre is a freelance writer, blogger and copywriter. The association community remains her professional home after spending ten years at national and state associations overseeing membership, vendor programs, marketing, publications, chapter relations and more. Away from her laptop, you can find her hiking, doing yoga, cooking new recipes, volunteering at the history museum, or relaxing in a comfy chair with a good book and glass of wine or craft beer.
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