Slow days at work are inevitable no matter which industry you operate in. As an employer or manager, you may not like them; but there are ways to work to increase employee engagement even on the slowest of work days.
So without further ado, let’s take a look at some of these tried and tested tips and the reasons they work so well:
Exercise Team Building Activities
Most employers don’t like slow days at work for one simple reason, i.e., they don’t like seeing employees watching YouTube videos. While there’s nothing wrong with watching YouTube videos at work once in a while, resenting employees for killing their time in any way they can isn’t productive either. Therefore, make it productive for everyone by scheduling team-building activities.
Team building activities are important because they increase trust and communication between team members. As an employer, these activities will allow you to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your employees so you can assign them the tasks best suited to their abilities or train them. Team building activities also present the perfect opportunity to develop work friendships, which can dramatically enhance employee engagement and motivation.
Organize a Team Lunch/Happy Hour
Team lunches and office happy hours can significantly improve communication between you and your employees as well as among employees. Team lunches or happy hours are the perfect settings to get to know employees and check how they feel working for your company. Ordering food instead of taking the team out can also help you make the workplace more comfortable and entertaining for your employees and increase employee engagement.
You can also use this tip to release work stress and enjoy socializing. It will allow you to change your perspective about slow days at work to an unexpected but much-needed break.
Analyze Past Projects and Learn Together
If you want to utilize the slow days at work more productively, engage your employees in a session of “what could we have done better?” Bring up past projects, the obstacles your employees faced during those projects, the solutions they used to overcome those hurdles, and the outcomes of the projects. If you have any new employees on your team, ask them what they could have done differently than those who worked on it.
However, don’t use this tip to create competition among employees. Instead, spark a debate about why various approaches could have worked or wouldn’t have worked. Encourage employee engagement and harbor a learning environment so each team member can improve at least one of their skills due to the conversation. Don’t forget to end the session with an acknowledgment of your employees’ efforts and thank them for their time and loyalty to the company.
Slow days at work don’t have to be unnecessarily productive or unproductive. However, increasing employee engagement on such days is easier than you think it is. Utilize these days to learn more about your employees and team members so that busy days can become more efficient and productive.
