The Season To Slow Down And Reflect
Companies approach December as a “marathon month,” putting teams under pressure when people’s exhaustion is at its highest. Instead, the end of the year should be a season for co-creation of belonging and rewarding people’s efforts.
On December 13th, the DMC Crew got together for our monthly team meeting.
It’s the end of the year and looking at our shared virtual board, there were many open topics (that we’ve kept carrying over from previous months!) waiting to fit into the agenda and be on focus for discussion.
As a team, we value the time spent on leveraging our collaboration processes and strategies.
But we all know how hard and precious it is to find time to BE together.
Therefore, we intentionally chose not to compromise the time for connection.
This time, we preferred to set aside “technical” discussions and check in with each other.
We graciously indulge in sharing our feelings and energy levels, talking through the weight and light of another intense year.
This experience alone seemed to re-energize the room and offer input for relaxation and gentle vulnerability.
On the strategic level, we prioritized running a retrospective of the last quarter of 2022.
This gave us a chance to look at the great achievements we were able to hit, as well as at the work dynamics (both internally and in our client-facing routines) that made us particularly tired, and we aim to improve.
Last but not least, we centered our meeting around rewards and gratitude.
And it was a powerful approach to wrap up the time together, helping us strengthen human and professional synergy.
Spending quality and strategic time together as a team is something we invite our clients, partners and community to do too.
In a time when most organizations push through toward the end, we challenge them to focus on practices that bring people together around a slower sprint into the new year.
The fatigue is real and not just from work.
In December, we all carry the weight of the past twelve months.
The current state of the world, with all the socio-economic and political events, as well as the challenges coming from everyone’s personal sphere account for a big reason for people’s tiredness.
To make it simple: People are exhausted.
Companies tend to put people under more pressure at this time of the year and add another load to a cup already too full.
What if, instead, we chose to spend December as a time to slow down, reflect and connect?
As we did at DMC, workplaces can challenge the hustle and bustle mode that traditionally marks the last weeks before the holidays and shift their priorities, making space and time for co-creating belonging.
We saw how this time of the year works particularly well for running retrospectives.
Our team gained clarity on wins, challenges, and suggestions for improvement and set the path for the next year.
It’s also a time for creating chances for people to connect, share feedback and set goals for the new year together.
A year wrap-up also is perfect timing to recognize and reward the efforts people have made throughout the past year.
What if you did this with your team as well?
We particularly think about folks who work on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB), or in People and Culture teams, who are likely to approach this time with extreme fatigue and tiredness and can benefit from expressions of gratitude, recognition and a moment of pausing, reflecting and resting.
Celebration, appreciation, and recognition are integral pieces of sustainable DEIB work!
Regardless of how you feel called to spend this time, we invite you to challenge the usual end-of-the-year working attitude.
We invite you and your team to focus on practices that bring you together, celebrate your achievements and help you reflect on how you can continue working in harmony with business and personal needs over the next 12 months.
If you are looking for support to evaluate how you can best foster a sense of belonging in your team or organization, check out our consulting offers and get in touch!
We also invite you to browse some other articles full of actionable advice on our blog.
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