The foundation of good morale and productivity is hiring the right people, give them clear roles, responsibilities, expectations and goals. And give them training and coaching which includes feedback, direction, support and recognition from a trusted manager or coach.

If these aren’t in place, this article is NOT for you. Instead, use some of the other resources on this site to help you get your roles and goals clear and get everyone headed in the right direction.

If you do have all of those things in place, and want some ways to put this quote to work, you will find them here. In some cases, you may feel like a fool. Your teammates may roll their eyes. But they will laugh too. And that will lighten the load, break the tension and maybe even bring people closer together. Not just today – but down the road as they think about or talk about the day that ___________ (fill in the blank).

• January 4 – Trivia Day. Have a trivia contest. Make up questions or ask each person to suggest one…a question about themselves or about company history or procedure. Make it an individual or team competition.
• January 10 – Cut Your Energy Cost Day. Gather some stats from your company’s gas and electric bills. Share these with your team. Ask your team for suggestions for ways to reduce energy use for your office. And for home. Post reminders. Share results when next bills come. Make this a monthly staff meeting agenda item.
• January 11 – National Clean Off Your Desk Day. Offer a prize for cleanest desk, most improved and… Prizes don’t have to be big. A candy bar is good. Or a notepad. Or…. Also note that the month of January is Get Organized Month. So you could make this a month long challenge or contest.
• January 15 – National Hat Day. Invite everyone to wear one. Give a prize for most unusual.
• January 16 – Appreciate a Dragon Day. Or perhaps you could recognize someone who recently slayed a dragon. There is an adorable Beanie Baby (TM) dragon. Award this to someone and let it pass to a new person each month. By the way – you don’t have to be the one in charge of selection. Let the winner this month be the one to select and pass it on next month.
• January 19 – National Popcorn Day. Fun and easy. Just bring in a big can or bag. Or if you have easy access, bring in a machine.
• January 21 – Squirrel Appreciation Day. Squirrels have been getting a lot of attention here lately. Lots of lessons to learn from them. Get a week’s worth of ideas at: Theme for Week: Squirrel Awareness
• January 27 – Chocolate Cake Day. Serve it at your staff meeting. Or deliver to each person’s desk. Yum!
• January 28 – National Kazoo Day. use your imagination.

January is also

• Skating Month. How about taking the whole staff ice skating?
• National Soup Month – How about bringing in a different kind of soup each week? And/or asking people to bring in favorite soup recipes.
• Clean up your computer month – how about asking each person to run through a computer clean up checklist?

See also: January Only Marketing Ideas

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