The holidays are a great time to recharge your batteries. Doing it company-wide can vastly increase morale and ultimately your employee’s productiveness. But getting your office ready to close for the holidays or an annual away day isn’t as simple as locking the doors. There’s a lot to consider. If you do it wrong, you risk annoying employees, alienating customers and your profit margin could take a nasty hit. Do it right, however, and you could be benefitting from it for months.
Spread the word
If you are planning on closing up shop, make sure you spread the word across all your employees and customers in good time. It’s always worth telling them well in advance and then following up with a reminder closer to the time.
How you tell them is also important. Of course, for your employees, a company-wide email should suffice. You can also follow this up with an announcement at company meetings.
Notify clients via email and a phone call if appropriate. A notification on your company website will also cover all bases.
Whilst telling your staff and clients, make sure you don’t leave out any relevant security personnel and third-party companies that you work with.
Be energy-efficient
If you’re planning on closing the office for a long period of time, make sure to switch off any heat and electricity where possible. This helps with the energy bills and means you’re not wasting resources and being more environmentally friendly.
Back up everything
Before you close your office, make sure you back up any business-critical files. If you have a backup service, arrange for an early back up instead of waiting for your office to re-open if the cycle falls during your closing.
Closing the office takes some time and prior preparation. However, if you give yourself enough resources to plan it well, then your office close should go seamlessly. If it’s a regular occurrence (like Christmas), you’ll soon be used to the process rolling around every year and be able to do it with your eyes closed!
