The festive season in many organizations comes with a variety of activities and high spirits, not leaving out the end of year tasks in various departments that still need to be done effectively to avoid stalling the business processes.

This calls for a balance between spreading holiday cheer among teams in the most creative ways and ensuring high productivity levels with the increased anticipation and excitement about the festive period.

In certain cases, employees experience spikes in stress level, anxiety from bills, loneliness, and sometimes depression all disguised and sometimes overlooked in the hustle and bustle of the season.

Everyone has a part to play in lifting the spirits of their team members and togetherness in teams should be constantly encouraged as it enables colleagues to see through any facades people may put up to mask their true feelings.

Asides from the elaborate decorations, merry music, and holiday-themed outfits, below is a list of our top 5 effective tips to enabling holiday cheer and productivity in your organization.

• Take advantage of the season to celebrate. Recognize employees for achievements, celebrate business milestones, and encourage the not-so-performing employees for their efforts and contributions to the business. Thereby motivating employees to become more efficient.

• Exchange compliments and mean it. Avoid using empty words without authenticity as it loses the very essence of holiday cheer that is supposed to be passed across.

• Host fun company events where employees and their families get to unwind, dine, have fun while bonding and exchange gifts with colleagues. This should be planned for well in advance to avoid collision with existing business activities.

• Engage in charitable activities with the participation of employees in the planning and execution phases of the project like community volunteer initiatives, material or financial donations to charitable causes, and hosting or attending charity balls or events.

• Maintain open communication to employees on expected deliverables, holiday schedules, and upcoming events to allow employees to plan according to meeting up to expectations.