Staying productive during the summer slump: six tips for Internal Comms
It’s August and, hopefully, we’ve finally had some summer weather. But even if the sunshine goes, the signs the summer holidays are in full swing are strong: the roads are quieter, our inboxes too, and trying to get everyone you need at a meeting is almost impossible. For those of us still working, it’s possible we’re a bit less productive than usual, what with the kids being off school, holiday planning to think about and the knowledge that half the office is away so it’s hard to get major stuff done. Yes, it’s the summer work slump. To help get you through it, we’ve come up with a few suggestions for how to keep you, your team and the wider workforce happy and productive when it feels like the world and his dog is off on holiday.
1. Scale back your internal communications. We all know the feeling of email overload on the first day back in the office. Lots of people away means there’s a high risk your carefully crafted regular email communication won’t get read by that many people in the summer months. And by the time someone does get to it, it might be out of date anyway. Make sure everything people need to know is on the intranet and that they know where to find it. And if you don’t have an intranet, send out a post-summer newsletter in September, when most people are back and ready to be updated.
2. Lighten your comms. You know how it’s nice to have a summer beach read – something easy, that doesn’t take much concentration? Take the same approach with your summer comms. Make some room for entertaining and more interactive content, keeping in mind you do still need to come across as professional. You could start a swap of summer recipes or get employees to suggest summer playlists. Use more employee stories or spotlights and promote summer activities like a company sports team winning a match or an office social in the sun. Don’t forget to remind people to share photos and videos of their events on your comms channels.
3. Encourage teams to develop a summer-specific plan – and remember to lead by example. Send out tips and reminders to managers about communicating a summer plan to their teams. This could include things like making sure everyone in the team is aware of all the important deadlines, targets and news so the department can stay on track. And encourage good working practices such as allowing people to truly be on holiday. No-one should feel like they have to answer emails on the beach! You could also suggest line managers do a ‘welcome back’ meeting with their team to get everyone back into work mode.
4. Use the time to think and plan for the often busy post September period. If your teams aren’t full or your work pipeline is quieter, use the time to realign priorities and reassess any strategies, as well as catching up on projects that might have fallen by the wayside. This time can also be a good opportunity to take a look at some existing internal communication practices and refresh them.
5. Focus on people development. Re-engage with your team and make sure their progression is still on track. Where possible, look at the potential for upskilling, training, increased creativity and self-care, as this all helps to keep people motivated.
6. Get employees thinking about their own development. Alongside your lighter summer comms, why not add in some promotions for learning and development if HR have some in the pipeline? It’s a good way to get people energised about their own career progression. You could advertise workshops and promote lunch and learn opportunities and if there aren’t any coming up encourage any department you know is quieter during the summer to think about running one.
The summer months can be a great time to plan for busier times ahead, but taking a break is important too, so be sure to set a good example and take some time off yourself. That way, when everyone’s back in September, you’ll all be refreshed and ready and raring to go.
Do you have September plans you’d like to share? Need support with your internal comms? We’d love to chat! We open up free power hour slots each month to talk to people about their current challenges, get in touch to book one today.
