Smart Business Resolutions for the New Year Featured
- Written By Tansy Michaels
New Year’s resolutions aren’t just for your personal life, but are a great idea for your business as well. With a new year comes new opportunities to determine your focus, to establish your vision, and to make a plan for how to achieve you desired outcome. Even if you aren’t someone who sets New Year’s resolutions, why not consider taking some time to reflect on your accomplishments for 2015 and figure out what you’d like to bring into your business in 2016? I know, I know—this could snowball into a major overhaul where you’re left with a to-do list five miles long. But it doesn’t have to! Here are some smart, simple tips and ideas for how to plan ahead and set yourself up for an incredible, successful year:
Better Yourself
Before the year gets underway, take some time to think about how you’re going to further your professional development. It can be easy to neglect honing your skills and abilities in lieu of focusing on day to day activities, but with some careful planning you won’t have to choose. Pick one day each month, twelve days total, for you to spend taking a class, watching a webinar, reading a book, or networking. Think about what is going to feed your professional needs and then create time to satisfy them. Set calendar reminders now so you can plan your schedule far in advance. Not only is this beneficial for you, but consider the message it sends to your colleagues and direct reports: you value knowledge. Continued education is important to you. You are not perfect and are seeking ways to improve yourself. If you make it important, so will your team. In fact, why not think about setting up a book club with one leadership, strategy or development book each month? The possibilities are endless, and you have a whole year to fill with nourishing, helpful activities.
Better Your Environment
Your work surroundings greatly impact you and your team’s productivity. Don’t wait for spring cleaning to tackle the office dust bunnies, start setting up time in January to spend on improving your workspace. The trick to this being successful is small, achievable goals that lead to building good habits.
Start by taking an inventory of the basics: how is the lighting? Schedule a window washing, grab a few desk lamps for ambient lighting, or even replace outdated window treatments. These can make a huge difference in the overall feel of an office, and will benefit everyone. How are the shared spaces? Bring in some books or magazines from home, perhaps look into a plant service, or ask one of your green thumbed colleagues to cultivate a window box. Small touches can make offices feel more comfortable, and encourage you and your employees to take rest breaks throughout the day.
On that note, do an inventory of your office’s food supply (even if it’s your personal snack drawer.) Do you have good food at work? If not, put time on your calendar every month to do some office shopping. Grab nuts, dried fruit, cases of things you like to drink, cereal, granola, and snack bars. It’s important to keep your energy up, and communal eating is a great way to bond with your team.
Better Your Work/Life Balance
The year is your oyster. Make an effort to plan vacations, time off, doctor’s appointments, car maintenance, mental health breaks, and time away from work before you’re overwhelmed. Even if you don’t know all of the dates ahead of time, be sure that you’re keeping a work/life balance at the top of mind.
This is also a great time to assess this for your team. Do they feel like they have the space they need to take care of their personal and professional lives? Would trying out a work from home schedule be beneficial? Or should you structure a half-day Friday once a month to give them back some time? Think about the message you want to send to your people about your expectations. If they see you prioritizing your personal life, they will feel comfortable doing the same. When we’re taking care of our family/home stuff, it becomes so much easier to be all in for work.
Better Your Community
Thinking outside your four walls, what can you and your business do to engage with your community? Not only is the good will a positive addition to your workplace, but building relationships with other businesses and organizations is only going to strengthen your network.
There are so many great ways to do this. Talk with your local library about hosting a resume review, or visiting high schools on career day. Perhaps you work in a creative industry and you could arrange time each quarter to do tours and work shares with college students. Donating financially is wonderful, but what about setting up time every other month for you and your employees to participate in community activities, such as charity events, fundraisers, volunteering opportunities, or skill shares?
Before the year ends, challenge yourself to sit down and think of one thing you’d like to bring into your professional world in 2016. You have ample time to come up with a plan and you won’t regret the effort you put into setting yourself up for a happy, prosperous new year.