Making Memories During Christmas and the Holidays

    A favorite Christmas song has a line that describes Christmas as 'the most
wonderful time of the year.' While giving and receiving gifts is something that
is highly anticipated and remembered at Christmas time, there are also many more
activities that make Christmas memorable and wonderful.
    One of these activities is decorating the Christmas tree. The Christmas
tree occupies a central spot and is the most visible display of Christmas in
most homes. Unlike in other countries, most American homes do not have a
representation of the Nativity scene, which is more likely to be located at
churches.

The Perfect Punter - Christmas/new Year Special (2015/16)

  As soon as the Christmas season begins on the day after Thanksgiving,
families will begin their search for the perfect Christmas tree. This in itself
can become a memorable activity as children may accompany family members to
places like a Christmas tree farm to select a tree.
    Once a real or artificial tree is selected, then it's an exciting activity
for the entire family to play a part in decorating the tree. Manufactured
decorations come in many shapes and forms. But a special memory is created when
family members make a special ornament for the Christmas tree, or contribute one
or more keepsake items to decorate the Christmas tree. It then becomes a ritual
each year for those particular items to be placed on the Christmas tree although
other decorations may change in coming years.
    Another activity that can help to create special memories at Christmas is
baking cookies. Along with popular gingerbread cookies, using cookie cutters to
make special holiday-shaped cookies is also practiced a lot in households. Based
on the ages of children, they can help in the actual baking activity by
measuring and mixing some ingredients, or, younger children can sprinkle sugar
on the cookies or decorate them with icing when they are finished. Helping in
this activity can also be educational as parents can use the activity of
measuring and figuring out equivalent measures to teach fractions and other
mathematical elements.
    An activity that is related to food which also helps to create memories
during the Christmas season is making fruit and goody baskets, which are filled
with candies, baked items and other treats for loved ones, their special
friends, neighbors, teachers or for charity. Items such as goody baskets make
especially wonderful Christmas gifts because they are home-made. That quality
often makes them more treasured than a Christmas present that is bought at the
store.
    Because Christmas is the season of goodwill and good cheer, it is very
important to reach out to family, loved ones and friends during the season. The
busy lives that many people lead today often leaves them little or no time
during the year to be in frequent contact with family and friends who are
located far away, or even others who live within a reasonable distance in the
same or a neighboring state, for example.
It is therefore very common during Christmas to send a Christmas or holiday
greeting card to those individuals. Along with the pleasant memory of receiving
the card, there may be a short letter included that gives a brief account of any
significant event in the individual's life or with members of the family. That
makes sending and receiving Christmas greeting cards more memorable.
    Then there's probably the most anticipated activity of Christmas - finding
out what Christmas gift Santa brought on Christmas Eve. While adults also look
forward with much anticipation to see what Christmas gifts they will get, it's
really the children who get the most delight from receiving presents at
Christmas. The carefully planned actions to hide Christmas presents from
children and then to magically place them under the Christmas tree to be found
on Christmas morning is one of the most wonderful ways to create unforgettable
memories for children at Christmas.

ESCAPE the Holiday Productivity Blahs

It’s that time of year again: the time of holiday parties, Christmas cards to write, shopping to do (even online…at work!), vacations, family commitments, and more stress.  It is no wonder that a recent survey by Accountemps found that 44% of executives feel employees are less productive the week before a major holiday.

While this may be true, there are ways that we as leaders can counteract all of the distractions and stress and help people be as productive now as at any time of the year. Following are some suggestions to keep the focus and results high as the bells ring louder and the shopping days disappear.  Rather than avoiding the challenges or denying the distractions the season offers, ESCAPE the problems by applying the suggestions below.

Expect good results. Set high expectations and you will typically get great results.  Set low ones and you’ll get the matching results too. As a leader, one of your responsibilities is to set clear expectations and goals for others.  However successful you have been at communicating and gaining understanding on these expectations, the holidays require some additional expectation setting.  Give people a sense of where they are on their annual goals, and encourage them to finish the year strong.  As you set and reinforce these expectations, remember to give people the support and resources they need to succeed.  And of course, lead by example.  Have high expectations of yourself to finish the year strong.

Share spirit.  While some people have a bit of a cynical, stressed out, scrooge attitude towards the holidays, most find their spirits lifted and thoughtfulness is at an annual high.  Encourage people to show their spirit and sense of goodwill when communicating with others inside the organization.  Even more importantly, encourage those sales people, Customer Service professionals and others who communicate with Customers to use that holiday good cheer in their interactions.  Customers will notice and everyone wins.

Creative Youth Ideas Christmas Collection

Celebrate! You probably have a holiday party at a restaurant or hotel, which is great.  But consider doing an on-site workday event too. There are many options -“Secret Santa”, a white elephant gift exchange, or daily afternoon holiday snack break with different people bringing things each day are just three suggestions.   A little time spent here can help build relationships, bring people closer together and focus them on their work for the rest of the day and week.  Make sure to let people who are interested in these kinds of events plan them – don’t delegate it to the unwilling or overworked because it won’t have the same results.

Acknowledge the challenges and distractions.  Let people know that you realize the holidays are a tough time of year to stay focused.  Share your shopping and social calendar with them, so they understand that you feel the seasonal stress that they feel too.  When people know you understand their situation, you gain credibility when talking about expectations and year end goals.

Present positive anticipation for the New Year.  Give people something to look forward to.  Get them excited about a target or project that will make a real difference early in the New Year.  Giving people this forward focus will help the focus now, but will really help people past the doldrums that can come after January 1.

Engage outside your organization.  Take the lead by organizing a group to lead a toy campaign, contribute to a food drive, or better yet, do something as a team in the community.  Your group will feel proud of their efforts, pleased that their organization supported and encouraged the activity, and the team will improve their relationships which has a long term impact on team health and productivity.

These suggestions individually can help you navigate the holiday season more effectively.  Taken together, however, they will help you ESCAPE the pitfalls and make December a valuable and productive close to the year and a jump start to the new one.