Managing workload

We recently looked at how to prepare for your summer break. However, if there is one thing as sure as the fact that preparing to go away will be challenging, it is that getting back on top of things on your return will be equally (if not more) so.

Hopefully, if you followed the advice in our last piece, and prepared you’re your time away from the office, getting back on top of things shouldn’t be onerous.

Here are the TurnstoneHR top tips for getting back into the swing of things at the office:

1. 1.     Be realistic. It’s simply not practical to think that you can catch up on every single thing that has happened while you have been out of the office. Therefore, take time to assess tasks that are urgent or important, and focus on those.
2. 2.     Be organised. Don’t rush into any tasks on your first day back without thinking about how you will do them, how long it might take to complete them, when you plan to do them by and, perhaps most importantly, why you’re doing them. Are you sure you need to do everything here or are there a few you can ignore for now? Write a to-do list or use your email calendar to plan your week.
3. 3.     Be disciplined. It’s important to prioritise your time and limit your time on certain tasks. For example, using social media can be a great way to publicise your business, but it can also be a time vacuum if you are not strict about it.  The same goes for trawling through emails -you might find it useful to allocate set times during the day to catch up on these.
4. 4.     Be a talker. It’s no good returning to the office and immersing your self in email. As we all know, a lot can be lost in translation when it comes to email. One of the top items on your to do list should be to do the rounds and talk to your team, find out what’s been going on, and what they feel the urgent actions are. And of course, if you can delegate some tasks, then do.
5. 5.     Be open-minded. Sometimes a break from the office can give you the head-space to look at things in a different light – and bring clarity to those things that have been niggling at the back of your mind. Use that insight to make those small changes that make a big difference.

And finally, one of the best ways to avoid the back to work blues – start planning your next holiday!

For support with all manner of HR issues, including employee engagement, performance management, and training, contact TurnstoneHR on 07725 735 581 or 07715 822216 for a FREEconsultation.