Now that we are one week into September, many of us will be back in the office after our summer holidays, perhaps experiencing a minor case of back-to-work blues. Back to emails, meetings, projects… While we often expect to return from holiday refreshed and inspired, ready to tackle our workload with a positive attitude, the reality can be somewhat different. Indeed, catching up on the email backlog and the tasks that have built up in your absence can be dispiriting enough to quash these good intentions.
There are plenty of articles out there which focus on getting back to work after a holiday – such as these 5 tips from Forbes – but today I wanted to focus on a specific activity that many people dread, but which can actually be wielded to your advantage to help beat these back-to-work blues. I’m talking about conference calls and online meetings. As such, here are 3 meetings you should consider scheduling to get you back on track and excited about work again.
The team catch up
If team members have been away over the summer and you’re all back at work, then now is the perfect opportunity to regroup. Take the time to have an all-team meeting to reconnect with these colleagues and discuss your goals for the rest of the quarter and the year. Even just a quick stand up meeting will help bring the team together again after a potentially disjointed summer. Hearing each other’s voices is a lot more personal than email communication, and getting back together as a group can help lift the spirits.
The project call
As with the team catch up, any projects that have had project members absent at all over the summer would likely benefit from a quick call to discuss the status of the project as a whole. When emails or tasks on a project build up in someone’s absence, getting back into the stride can be difficult; being able to ask questions over the phone can often get to the answer much faster. Better yet, using screen sharing to go through the project plan as a group helps clarify the progress of tasks. It’s demotivating to feel hazy on the details and lost in a sea of tasks and emails, so getting everyone back on the same page is a very good idea not just for work product, but also for morale.
The brainstorming session
To harness any residual inspiration you may have after a bit of time away from work, plan to take part in a brainstorming session. Whether this is for an existing project or, better yet, a new project, going back to basics and throwing around new ideas with colleagues can be surprisingly motivating.
So, although these 3 conference calls may seem fairly run-of-the-mill in terms of subject matter, this month is a great time to fit them in and get back on track and excited about work. Of course, to get maximum value out of these meetings, you’ll need to make sure you avoid wasting time, so always go into these meetings with clear objectives, and leave these calls with an action plan.
For more posts on workplace productivity, see:
ITExpo Panel Discussion on Productive Collaboration
BYOD and Productivity: Why You Need a Good Conferencing Smartphone App
Multitasking on Conference Calls: Agree with It or Not, Here’s How
