End the year on a high note with your team

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It is a busy period by definition, but it is still important to get your head out of operational tasks: step back, reflect on the past year, look ahead to the next one together, and spend some quality time as a team.

1Communicate on current projects and deadlines

If your team has major projects or deadlines coming up, now is the time to plan for them and finalise what needs to be done. Make sure everyone understands their roles and responsibilities, and set a clear timeline for each task.

2Discuss potential challenges and how to overcome them

The end of the year can be busy and stressful. Talk about the challenges your team may face and come up with strategies to overcome them: managing workloads, dealing with difficult clients, addressing internal conflicts.

3Review the team’s accomplishments and goals for the year

Take some time to reflect on the team’s achievements and areas for improvement over the past year. It gives everyone a sense of accomplishment and a starting point for next year’s goals.

4Set goals for the new year

Once you have reviewed the team’s progress, set goals for the new year. Make sure they are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound (SMART), so that everyone works towards the same objectives.

5Take care of yourself and your team

During this busy time, take care of yourself and your team. Encourage everyone to take breaks, get enough sleep and eat well to stay healthy and focused. Team activities or social events can also help everyone relax and de-stress.

Organise a team activity

The end of the year is an ideal opportunity to bond around an activity, and the period lends itself to a more original, informal choice. Still, set a clear goal for it, so that it brings value to your team and doesn’t fall flat.

Choose the right date

Organise it early enough, before the team leaves on holiday. Opt for mid-December and send the invitations to the team in advance.

Take affinities and personalities into account

Don’t create discomfort with an activity that doesn’t fit your team culture. If you know some people on your team are shy, make sure not to embarrass them.

Idea 1: Secret Santa

A few weeks before the event, everyone draws the name of the person they will give a gift to. On the day, it can be fun to guess who is behind each gift: a subtle way to discover your teammates’ personalities.

• Set a budget: the idea is to rack your brains for an original gift based on what you know about your colleagues, not to go broke.
• Set a deadline for buying gifts: especially in a hybrid or remote team, allow for delivery times so that everyone gets their gift on time.
• Help Santa stay discreet: share everyone’s postal address with the team, with their agreement of course.

To organise it easily, we recommend a free tool, Elfster. It randomises the draw while letting the organizer keep track of and adjust the pairings, and lets people create wish lists and track gifts.

Idea 2: the team quiz

Simple to set up and effective, a team quiz is a fun way to bring people together.

• A theme that unites the team: this year’s achievements (how many new customers have we signed this year? how many users have used this feature?), a team project, your industry or news from your sector.
• The team itself: “Who is most likely to…”, “I’m a fan of Asian cinema and…, I am…”.

If the format allows, keep score: the winner gets a small prize or some goodies. It is a fun way to see how the team sees itself, and to wake up everyone’s competitive spirit. To create interactive, fun meetings, we recommend a free tool, AhaSlides: live polls and word clouds, quizzes with automatic scores and rankings, live brainstorming tools.

Idea 3: the year in review

If you prefer a calmer, more conversational atmosphere, run a team retrospective of the year:

• look back at your biggest wins as a team
• hold a team awards ceremony (deal of the year, biggest impact on the company, most innovative initiative…), with everyone voting live, for example in AhaSlides
• recall moments of team life: photos of events and offsites, anecdotes

Set aside some time to share your vision as the team leader and the team’s key goals for the year ahead: it is the right moment to start thinking about next year together.

Goodies ideas

It can also be an opportunity to give each team member some goodies. Plan the shipments ahead so that everyone receives their gift on time.