5 Tips to Keep Your Staff Busy During the Slow Season The last thing you want to do is just twiddle your thumbs and hope it gets better.
By Jason Lucash Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Come see Jason Lucash at the Entrepeneur 360™ conference, happening October 7, 2015 in New York City. He will be in a panel with other talented leaders discussing the traits of successful CEOs. Register now.
It is that time of year when many businesses tends to get a little slow. You and your staff were working at a high efficiency due to the busy season but now that sales have tapered off, everyone finds themselves with more free time than they are used to. So is now the time to take a load off and party? Definitely not. Now is the time to get everything you have been putting off done and to start planning for the busy season again.
Here are a few things to keep you and your staff busy during these quiet times.
Related:
1. Organize.
When business is slower than usual, this is the perfect time to get organized. To operate more efficiently and effectively, organization in the workplace and in your personal space is key. Cleaning up your computer files, organizing projects and emails and re-configuring your computer desktop can really make life easier when business picks up again. In addition to your personal space, organization of the office and making sure there is plenty of office supplies in stock can make the stressful times easier to endure.
2. Follow up with clients.
Following up with clients and pending/potential projects is the perfect thing to do when you have free time at work. Reaching out to your clients about quotes you had discussed previously, or getting in touch with your top clients not only makes them feel like they are a priority, but it can also dredge up some business as well.
3. Look at your marketing strategy.
Even though marketing should be a priority all year round, sometimes the planning and implementation gets put on the back burner during busy times. So, during slow periods is the perfect time to fit your companies marketing strategies in. Creating catalogs, sell sheets, email blasts, updating social media, the website and planning for the next year are all good things to do while it is slow.
Related:
4. Take an inventory of products.
Now that business is quiet, it is the perfect time to get accurate inventory counts on all your products. This will allow the warehouse to get organized and will enable the company to accurately see how well they did in the busy season. This will also give an accurate count of what is currently in stock and will allow the company to order more based on the time of year.
5. Have group meetings and discussions.
After the busy season has finally come to an end, this allows you and your team time to meet and talk about what went well and what could be improved for next year. During these discussions, ideas for company culture, dealing with the stress of the busy season, marketing planning and product ideas can all be good things to discuss.
Just because it is slow does not mean that it is the perfect time to sit back and relax. When it is slow, it allows you and your staff to take a step back and look at how to improve for next year and to get prepared for it early.
Related:
