So, what are your plans for International Project Management Day? Turkey with all the trimmings? Gathering around the Festivus pole and airing your grievances? What’s that? You don’t even known when IPM Day is?
OK, neither did I until recently. It’s Nov. 6, two days after Election Day. Once you recover from the sugar coma that is your kids’ Halloween candy, you might want to start planning.
I’ll admit it seems like I’m being facetious – but I’m not. Celebrating International Project Management Day could be a great way to recognize the efforts of your staff, boost morale, and promote your department and business.
It is possible to boost morale without breaking the bank. (After all, the assumption being you’re not going to hand out cash bonuses on International Project Management Day.) Entrepreneur.com has an article that could help.
Entitled “Seven Ways to Boost Employee Morale,” it outlines cheap ideas it says could increase productivity. Here’s a look at some:
Keep employees feeling their work is more than just a job. The article points out, “Everyone wants to feel that his or her work has a higher purpose.” Gather your employees and ask them to share what work accomplishment they are most proud of in the last 12 months.
Grant time off to employees to pursue projects they are passionate about. “Personal projects can provide an energizing break from regular responsibilities and can serve as a source of innovation for a company,” says Entrepreneur.com. See if there is something your employees might want to spend Nov. 6 doing – it could be as simple as giving them the day off to spend with their kids. Just make sure it’s something that energizes them and doesn’t mean any project deadlines are missed. Your customers may not understand if you told them something was delayed because of International Project Management Day.
Don’t forget to have fun. According to the story, “For the online discounter FatWallet, based in Rockton, Ill., fun is a regular part of the schedule. Its 55 employees are invited to play in a monthly Game Day, an in-house competition with activities ranging from Trivial Pursuit to Wii bowling matches.”
So, pit your employees against each other. Cough up a few bucks for prizes and refreshments. It need not be anything fancy. Just make sure employees can have fun.
Lisa Korotkin Rothberger is the human resources manager at JARC, a nonprofit organization based in Oakland County, Mich. As a non-profit executive she probably excels at doing things cheaply, which is why we share her advice.
She wrote a piece for CorpMagazine.com with her tips. Leading her advice is this recommendation: “Get all upper level managers to have a pancake breakfast for staff. This is the perfect opportunity to involve managers in the fun. They can bring out their skillets, put on their chef hats and make pancakes for staff.”
I worked for a legal newspaper earlier in my career. Once a quarter the publisher would do exactly that: make us breakfast. The law firms we covered did it, too. I would say the secret is to be enthusiastic – or at least fake it. Get creative. Make Mickey Mouse pancakes.
Plus, there is the advantage of doing it when the day starts. You don’t need to break things up or worry about people focusing on lunch all morning. They come in, get served, and then slowly start the work day with full bellies.
Along the same line as breakfast by the boss, Rothberger suggests, “Facilitate a bake-off between the various departments. Staff can compete for simple prizes like a pizza party for their department or an extra half hour for lunch one day.” This can be a great team building exercise, too.
Have any suggestions for celebrating International Project Management Day? Comment below.
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