End the Year Strong with your Team

End the Year Strong!

If you’re not intentional, the last few days of the year will trickle away and you might not end the year strong. Perhaps your team is absorbed in the holidays or simply waiting – waiting for a fresh start with the new year.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Even during these darkest days, you can end the year strong. Set aside some time to reflect and acknowledge all this year has brought – all that your organization and your team has created. You may even be surprised at how fun this exercise is.

Set Aside Some Time

To begin, pause.

Next, acknowledge and mentally toast the wins of 2018.

Now sit back. Take it all in. Breathe and simply enjoy the warm fuzzy glow of who your team is in this world.

It is during this pause that you complete this year and begin creating space for 2019.  As T.S. Eliot wrote:

“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language. And next year’s words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning.”

Get the Team Together

Here’s how to create your team gathering and end the year strong:

• Bring your team together. Don’t be in a hurry.
• Get everyone to be present in this moment. It’s a time that won’t be repeated.
• Then ask, “When you look around at each other and think back over this year….”
  • What do you remember?
  • What are you grateful for?
  • What were some of the highlights from this year?
  • What were our wins?
  • What challenges did we overcome?
  • What were some unexpected delights?
• Encourage story sharing. There could be quite a few good ones, and even some you aren’t aware of. A lot happens in 12 months.
• Encourage appreciation by showing appreciation yourself. Thank them from the bottom of your heart for who they are and what they’ve created.
• Allow your team the opportunity to thank others also.

Here’s to savoring the last sip of this year!