12/20/2021 - By Tyler Otero

As we head into this holiday week, most of you will be winding down and taking some time to enjoy a few moments with family and friends. I encourage you to use some of this time to hit the proverbial reset button at your facilities. What does this mean?

Things to evaluate:

• Personal care
• Professional Care
• House Cleaning
• Goal Setting

Personal Care

I wrote about finding “me time” in a previous blog. That message still holds true in the off-season. In my travels over the past few years, I have seen more and more signs of burn out. Use the winter months to hit the mental reset button. This is the time when you can take extended trips and spend some quality time with family. Still need to stay in touch with work? Organize a golf trip with members to a warm weather destination. If the mental stress of the season has overwhelmed you at times, be intentional about doing the things which will help you relax.

Professional Care

The winter months are also a great time to improve your professional life. There are dozens of opportunities to learn online these days. Harrell’s offers online CEU’s where you can enhance your industry knowledge. Trade shows and in-person conferences are slowly happening again, and those are always excellent opportunities to gain new insights from the leaders of our industry.

House Cleaning

When I referenced house cleaning earlier, I was not saying you need to get out the cleaning supplies at home. Your significant other may like that, but not exactly what I meant. Nor did I mean to start firing staff. We know how important labor is these days. By house cleaning, regarding hitting a reset button, I want you to think about your maintenance facilities. The winter months are a great opportunity to clean your shop and/or your office space. Take a morning to clean off your desk and organize your files. Have your crew pull all the equipment out and sweep the corners that get overlooked during a busy season. Paint and deep clean the break room or locker room. There is such a sense of rejuvenation when you deep clean your workspace. Having a fresh start in the maintenance facility is a great way to kick off the new year.

Goal Setting

Finally, goal setting exercises are a great way to recharge your staff and yourself in the offseason. Take the time to set individual and specific goals for you and your staff. Group goals are ok as well, but to truly feel the impact, meet with each one of your team members and ask them about their personal goals. Help them set a few for the year and be sure to check up on these goals regularly. The goals you set do not need to be grand in nature. They can be as small as cutting back on the amount of coffee you drink daily, to as big as finishing a golf course masterplan. The goals you set should be specific and achievable. Once you hit a few small ones, the momentum has begun to hit the bigger goals.

Taking care of yourself and your workspace is a great way to end the year. There is nothing better than starting a new season with a clean office, organized maintenance facility, and personal and professional goals to guide you through another season. As always, we at Harrell’s truly appreciate the partnerships that we have developed with each of you, and we look forward to continuing those in 2022. Happy Holidays!!!