MPW Insider is an online community where the biggest names in business and beyond answer timely career and leadership questions. Today’s answer for: What’s your New Year’s resolution?Is written by Lorna Borenstein, founder and CEO of Grokker.
Every New Year, millions of people vow to change their lives in meaningful ways: eating better, working smarter, exercising, etc. As the CEO of my own fast-moving business, I know that making empty resolutions leads nowhere–and can even lead to negativity when you don’t stick to your well meaning plans. When it comes to resolutions, I believe that how I manage my work life is as important as my personal time. After all, most of us spend more waking hours at work than our own homes, making colleagues like a second family.
Americans take less vacations and work longer hours than people in any other country. In fact, according to the 2014 Bureau of Labor Statistics we work about 8.9 hours per day, and only sleep 7.7 hours. So being more productive at work could have a meaningful impact on your life. Every year, I make a corporate resolution to empower and improve not only myself, but my staffers, too. Here are my three resolutions for 2016:
See also: New Year’s Resolutions Won’t Make You More Successful
Spend more one-on-one time with staff
Large group meetings get stale fast. Dull meetings mixed with long to-do lists do not inspire anyone, and instead, create a group psychological contagion. Yet, meetings are often the best opportunity for your teams to connect with one another. So decrease the invitees and increase the impact. In 2016, I plan to have less big, lengthy meetings and set up more targeted small meetings, with one or two people. This will foster more innovative ideas, which will ultimately help build our company.
Utilize new technology
Use more “meeting ware” so team members can work remotely and still attend brief, succinct meetings. Using the newest, innovative meeting tools will not only save time and money, but also offer a way for the company–and our teams–to input hundreds of new ideas, instead the few we would hear during a live meeting. Technology offers perks. Since we operate a 24/7 business, our staff is always on a deadline. In 2016, more technology time savers will help us all stay on track, no matter where we are.
Keep it personal
Develop relationships with your work family. Since you spend so much time together, you should want to have an open and transparent staff. At Grokker, authenticity is at the heart of our business model. We enable the pursuit of physical and emotional well-being through yoga, fitness, and meditation videos, so what better way to enjoy what we do every day than to work out together as a group. This sense of “team” makes us a more cohesive unit, and encourages us to help each other, both inside and outside of the office. Employees who enjoy working together can greatly benefit the company–plus, it’s more fun for everyone.