It's that time of year again, the one beloved by many and dreaded by others, but it's as inevitable as the first snow of winter - that would be the one that hit us from behind this week in Montreal- and yes, we are talking about Christmas! There's nothing like Christmas to get everyone into a furious frenzy over end-of-year craziness at work, the manic madness of the last-minute shopping sprees and the political pressure of the office party with its microscope(s).
Most folks vocalise at some point or other during the year that it's all just nuts and why do we put ourselves through it, and this year is going to be different, but then, boom, it's the festive season out of the blue once more, and into Santa's grinder we all go; out we come at the other end as frazzled, frizzled and fracked versions of our normal selves. The question is - why?!
Even though we find out way too soon that there's no Santa Claus, and it's all a myth, it seems we cling on to the need to have a big blowout at year's end even as adults. It might be a healthy way of sort of writing off a tough year, in a haze of shopping and partying, or it might just be a throwback to when responsibilities were non-existent and we didn't have a care in the world. Suddenly, activities that are totally taboo the rest of the year, like Monday night at the pub and Wednesday evening cocktail-fueled karaoke, become the norm and it's acceptable to show up at the office like you barely got three hours sleep - because you did!
So for a week or two each December, people get to stuff their faces like there's no tomorrow, drink enough to make them wake wishing there had been no tomorrow, and then repeat until the reality of the dreaded January 1st or 2nd comes-a-knocking. The highlight usually being of course, the annual office party, where, perhaps due to the fatigue from everything else that's going on, people are at their weakest and the drinks kick in even faster than usual. Cue the behaviour that the smartphone and camera-carrying voyeurs simply love, as they sip on their mineral water and ice.
It's all a bit silly, of course, but if we are trying to have a brief return to lighter days, then it seems that Christmas serves its purpose, but it can kinda get in the way of work. Thus on the one hand there is that end-of-year craziness and the (often) imaginary deadlines at the office, then there are various office/networking parties to attend, then there's late night shopping, and then it's back to work to repeat it all again - increasingly the worse for wear.
I am not a big believer in the end-of-year myth, and I am not talking about Santa Claus! It's the adult end-of-year myth. The fallacy that I am referring to is that somewhat inexplicably, perhaps actually as a way of limiting the self-indulgence of the staff, after either a bad year or even a great year, suddenly everything must get done by December 22nd. Tell me whenever one week of extra work has changed things forever in a company and I will show you the eighth wonder of the world . But it's a habit most bosses find hard to kick - that last chance in the year to kick some butt, often because they are behind on their own targets.
But at a time when people are already frazzled, extra pressure gets piled on, and the tension and tiredness in the workplace turns it into a real pressure cooker, which actually leads to a greater need to blow off the steam with unceremonious vigour at the free bar later in the day. I think both management and staff play a role in all of this, with the responsibility being shared to differing degrees depending on where you work. It takes two to tango, and only one to ruin the dance completely.
First off, if after what appeared to be a rather productive year (in the employees eyes) and a stressful degree of pressure is applied to meet "urgent" deadlines before the holidays, well, someone higher up should have been monitoring progress and performance earlier and addressed it. You are highly unlikely to be popular when you suddenly wake up in the first week of December, realising you are way behind, panicking, then transferring that panic onto the staff. This is just weak management - pure and simple.
Ditto (in a related but less obvious way) for the staff. There's not much point in blissfully ignoring what goals you were set in your evaluation six months or a year ago, and then suddenly being forced to face them in early or mid-December. And it's totally naive to think that after a rather lacklustre year, if you are seen running around like a chicken with its head cut off, arms full of folders and fury, that the boss is gonna actually notice it and take it into account for your yearly bonus. He or she is probably too busy with the free champagne him/herself!
If we all take more responsibility for what we are meant to achieve each year, and this includes both ends of the workplace spectrum, management and staff, then guess what - we all get to actually enjoy the run-in to the holidays with no nonsense or cosmetically added pressure and stress piled onto our weakening shoulders. The idea being that we already are probably not at our productive best by mid-December when various distractions kick in, so take care of business the other 50 weeks of the year and then you can ease off on the gas a little for the last week or two at work. This is the way to acknowledge a good year by the team, and it may just do wonders for team spirit and morale that it's the boss kicking staff out of cubicles at 3pm and letting them do some early shopping before the pub at 6pm.
Who knows, it may even be a way to actually look forward to the approach to the holidays and the annual shutting down of business and professional life until the new year. Yes, yes, things are different if there is a multimillion dollar deal that needs closing, or a huge order that must go out, but this is the exception and not the norm at Christmas. Unless of course, you work for Canada Post or Amazon, in which case the holidays come the day after December 25th! :)
