4 Ideas to Beat the New Year Doldrums

Studies have found January to be the least productive month of the year. And this year, the problem is compounded by layoffs, quiet quitting and a broader productivity slump: In October 2022, a Washington Post analysis of data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics found that during the first half of 2022, worker productivity plummeted “by the sharpest rate on record going back to 1947.”

But first impressions matter. Despite the adage that you don’t get a second chance to make one, the new calendar year offers an opportunity to shake things up in a meaningful way — infusing organizations with energy and excitement that can fuel productivity year-round.

Here are some strategies for breathing new life into this notoriously dreary time of year.

EXPERIMENTATION MODE

By devoting the first month or quarter of the year to experimenting with new tools, technologies, processes and meeting cadences, companies may discover techniques and approaches worth keeping. The larger the departure from business as usual, the more likely employees are to break old habits and reexamine their strategies. What if your organization replaced daily hourlong meetings with 15-minute agile check-ins, supplemented by Slack conversations throughout the day? Or took a temporary break from Slack altogether?

FAIL-FAST FEBRUARY

As proponents of the agile approach know, sometimes the key to success is failing spectacularly and quickly — then continuously iterating on a solution until it succeeds. The final product or strategy may be wildly different from the starting point.

Sometimes the most creative ideas for improving organizational effectiveness rise from the bottom. By inviting and encouraging employees to channel their own creativity into coming up with large and small ways to improve the organization, and designating February (or March) as a month when fast failure will be celebrated, leaders can discover underexplored opportunities and spark new thinking.

UNEXPECTED APPRECIATION

An exercise called “asset mapping” allows employees to recognize one another’s strengths. If conducted in person, each team member puts their name in the center of a piece of paper. Teammates surround one another’s names with messages describing what they see as each person’s chief assets. At the end of the exercise, each team member has a document attesting to their strengths, as perceived by their colleagues — and a stronger sense of connection to their team.

RECONNECTING WITH WHAT MATTERS MOST

Another way to cut through the seasonal bleakness is to connect employees to what matters most. This may be the customers an organization caters to or the clients it serves. When possible, it’s powerful to make these connections happen in person, even if employees usually work remotely.

Each fall, the new school year gives students a sense of excitement and possibility, even when it’s accompanied by a certain dread that the summer is over. As adults, we often miss out on this yearly opportunity for renewal in our professional lives. The signs are strong that 2023 won’t be an easy year to navigate, which is all the more reason to shake things up at the start.