Forget the holidays: The turn of the dreary winter into the revitalizing spring and vibrant summer is the most wonderful time of the year! The bright sunshine, the lovely breeze, the flowers and trees thriving — it’s beautiful and boosts everyone’s spirits.

It’s also the time when people tend to start daydreaming a little more, focusing on work a little less and might start to book time off to get outside and enjoy the weather. It’s hard to focus when there’s so much going on! 

As a manager or team leader, it can feel difficult to keep your team on task and productive. But it’s not impossible! 

Here’s how to keep your team motivated and engaged during the warm summer months and beyond. 

• Encourage the use of PTO. The best way to get a song out of your head that’s stuck playing on a loop is to give in and listen to the whole thing. The same is true of people caught daydreaming and staring out windows: Encourage people to use their time off and get out into the world. Not only have they earned it, it’s a great way for people to refresh, reset and go do all the things they’re secretly wishing they could do while at work. They’ll come back clear-headed, rested and ready to get back to work, grateful for the break and prepared to get back to the tasks at hand. 

• Provide extra perks. Be flexible and understanding. Be honest — you’d rather be doing other things too than spending your day inside working! Work with your team to find ways to give everyone a little extra flexibility during the nicer weather. Can you shift working hours to allow people to come in early or leave early? Can you do half-days on Fridays, or close up for the weekend an hour early from Memorial Day through Labor Day? If remote work is an option, can you expand your existing program from one day a week to a more hybrid option? Even something as simple and small as providing a slightly longer lunch break for eating outside or taking walks can be a huge boost. 

• Lead by example. If you’re encouraging your team to take time off and unplug, show them you mean business by practicing what you preach. When you leave for the day, turn your work phone off. Don’t answer emails. When you leave for the weekend, do the same. Don’t respond to anything between end-of-day Friday and Monday morning. Show your team you really want them to do the same thing and to enjoy the great weather while it lasts! There are no repercussions for doing this; if an emergency comes up, it’ll be dealt with, but being on-call is not needed or required for everyone, especially not when it’s so nice out. 

• Take things outside. Can you offer meetings outside? If there’s any kind of picnic area or space for people to sit outside, why not move a meeting or two each week, weather depending, out into the fresh air? Anyone who works with a laptop can connect to WiFi within a short distance, or make it a laptop-free meeting, encouraging people to bring pads of paper instead to keep notes on important items. If this isn’t feasible for some meetings, find other ways to incorporate more vitamin D and fresh air into your work week. Maybe offer a cookout lunch for your team, giving them a little extra time outside to enjoy it? It’s a nice break to the routine as well.

• Get creative with company time. When’s the last time your team had an offsite team bonding activity? Or an offsite meeting? Plenty of places offer corporate options for fun activities that take people out of the office and into the world. Can you turn a sales meeting into a mini-golf competition? A brainstorming session might be supercharged by a team trip to a local park or on a short boat trip of a local waterway. Any activity can be turned into a professional outing if you put your mind to it! 

Summer is a wonderful time and winter can be harsh. Don’t close the windows and try to ignore what’s happening outside; find ways to embrace it and appreciate the change of seasons. 

If you’re looking for other advice on how to keep your employees motivated and productive, call Davis Staffing. We can also help provide leads on great new candidates if you’re looking to add to your team, whether on a permanent or temporary basis — including seasonal workers if your company gets even busier during the summer months! Contact Davis Staffing today and let’s get to work.