Wrapping Up Work Before Christmas: Checklist for Managers and Employees
To keep everything in order before the new year, it's crucial to not miss the details and prioritize effectively. Let's explore how to manage this in the pre-holiday rush when deadlines loom and office parties are scheduled.
The main rule is to focus on key responsibilities. Managers and HR professionals should focus on administrative tasks, while employees need to wrap up current projects and hand over duties if taking vacation time. We've gathered pre-holiday tasks into straightforward and clear checklists.
Before diving into the checklists, let's discuss why it's beneficial to handle work matters before the holidays.
Closing Tasks Helps Start the Year Productively
Completing work issues provides a sense of closure and calm. This allows you to prepare for Christmas stress-free and not worry about any deadlines. By wrapping up tasks before the holidays, you can:
- Enjoy quality time with loved ones without being distracted by work calls and emails. You'll be able to dive into home affairs and plan activities with friends or family.
- Maintain good relationships with colleagues— if all deadlines and agreements are met, the team will enjoy a comfortable and relaxed atmosphere.
- Easily return to work — start the year with new projects and tasks instead of a list of overdue duties.
- Reduce anxiety levels— completed tasks allow you to relax with a sense of accomplishment.
What Managers Need to Do
An end-of-year checklist for managers that ranges from regular management tasks to organizing a holiday party for employees.
Set Clear Expectations
To ensure the team handles tasks effectively, it's important to set understandable and specific expectations. During a general meeting, outline the results you aim to achieve by the end of December. This may include new client agreements, achieved performance indicators, or approved plans for January. Announce deadlines and write down criteria for task completion to avoid misunderstandings.
Example:
By December 23, finalize all event details with contractors, send the final proposal to the client, and receive feedback. The responsible person is manager Emily. Once the client responds, inform the department head.
Delegate Tasks and Prioritize
Distribute tasks among employees by ranking them in order of importance — this way, everyone knows what to concentrate on and what can wait. Create your own assessment criteria or turn to established methods like the Eisenhower matrix to select priority directions.
This tool suggests dividing tasks into four categories:
- Urgent and important — must be done first.
- Urgent but not important — tasks that can be delegated.
- Not urgent but important — schedule these for later with specific deadlines.
- Not urgent and not important — postpone or eliminate if they become irrelevant.
Verify Resources and Update Work Schedule
Allocate time to check technical aspects — whether the website is functioning properly, if incoming social media messages are visible, and whether emails are not landing in spam. During the holiday season, resources might operate less efficiently due to high traffic, so plan accordingly to avoid losing important contacts.
Another important task is updating the work schedule during the holiday period. It's essential for clients to know when and whom they can reach for assistance.
Assign Holiday Period Responsibilities
Decide who will be on call for urgent issues and designate areas of responsibility. Delegating task allocation to an HR specialist can efficiently organize employee workflow and save time.
Confirm Completion of Key Tasks
Before heading into the holidays, ensure that all priority tasks are completed on time. You can request a report or hold a final meeting to review the status of key assignments. This helps tidy up year-end processes, making it easier to return to work in January and start new projects afresh.
Review the Year with the Team
End-of-year reviews are essential not only for personal reflection but also for analyzing completed work. Several formats are available:
- Individual conversations with team members
- A general meeting
- Reports
- Informal gatherings.
Choose a format based on the company's size, communication style, and desired outcomes. Creating an atmosphere of trust is key to fostering open dialogue and genuine feedback from employees.
Enhance the official review with snacks and festive activities to thank the team and start the holiday break on a positive note. Many offices host a Secret Santa—a great way to bring employees together and reduce stress.
For organizing a Secret Santa at work, consider using the MySanta app, which offers all the necessary features and extras for an enjoyable game.
- Quick random selection. The platform automatically gathers participant lists and determines who gifts to whom. There's no need to prepare name slips or redraw if someone draws their own name.
- Wishlists. The platform integrates with e-commerce sites, allowing users to compile all their wishes in one list: from specific marketplace items to general ideas.
- Host a large-scale Secret Santa. Participate in departments and branches — with plans accommodating 30, 50, or more participants.
- An anonymous chat with the recipient. To ensure a perfect gift, ask questions directly from allergies to clothing sizes.
- Monitor game progress easily. Organizers can track gift preparation and the game's progress, adjusting deadlines and offering assistance when needed.
What Employees Need to Do
We've prepared a five-step checklist to transition from work to holiday mode with ease.
Organize Current Tasks
Sort out the tasks you're responsible for. Complete urgent assignments and plan to tackle others after Christmas. If you are going on vacation, delegate tasks to colleagues. This approach takes some time but benefits both you and your team.
Tidy Up Your Workspace
Organize your desk: sort documents into folders and discard unnecessary items. Also, focus on digital space: clean your inbox, upload files to the cloud, and review chats. This way, you'll find needed documents more easily. A clean and organized space also helps start the year fresh.
Things to Do in the Office Before the Holidays
- Remove unnecessary papers and old notes,
- dust off surfaces,
- organize documents into labeled folders,
- set aside a folder for documents to revisit in January,
- set an out-of-office reply with your return date,
- review incoming messages,
- close unnecessary tabs and programs,
- turn off electronics before leaving,
- water any plants in the office,
- discard leftover food.
Reach Out to Clients and Partners
Stay connected by sending holiday greetings or discussing future collaborations. A genuine interest and warm wishes show respect to those you work with. Mention your schedule during the holidays to save time and resources for both sides.
Prepare Reports
Finish year-end reports by gathering key data: financial performance, completed KPIs, and project milestones. Don't delay, as rushing the task later could lead to errors. If there are unfinished tasks, note these in the report as well for an easier start in January.
Plan Tasks
Returning to work will be easier if you prepare a plan in advance. Choose a few important tasks to prioritize and place them on your calendar, set reminders, or jot them on a sticky note placed in a visible spot.
Conclusion
Prevent December tasks from becoming overwhelming by preparing for the season in advance: organize your tasks, tidy up your workspace, and ready yourself for downtime. Properly organizing processes in advance will ensure the holiday season is as stress-free as possible.
