Stay productive while seeking holiday balance

It's the week before Christmas, and you know what that means.

It means my wife and I found ourselves standing in line at a Walmart at 10:25 p.m. last Friday night, trying to wrap up some Christmas shopping for the children. (Yeah, we know how to party!)

It means traffic is a nightmare almost everywhere you go, and holiday spirit often isn't enough to keep harried drivers from expressing their frustration.

It also means many cubicle dwellers will be taking a few days off during the next couple of weeks to travel or otherwise celebrate the season with family and friends.

Around the office at my new job, I'm expecting several quiet days this week and next. Most of the people on my team are taking at least a few days off, in addition to the official holidays.

Perhaps the strangest day will be Friday. The way things are looking now, I may be one of just two or three people at work that day in my department. I'll be a manager with practically no one to manage.

As for me, I'll be off on the recognized holidays, but I'll be at work the rest of the time. As I've mentioned before, I haven't earned much paid time off yet, and I need to start saving it now so I'll be able to travel with my family next summer.

But what if you're a supervisor, and you're the one planning to take some well-deserved time off during the holidays? Sure, you'll want your team to enjoy the season, but you'll also want to help your people stay productive at the office while you're away.

I received a press release recently from Jordan Cohen, an employee productivity expert at PA Consulting Group in New York, who offered some tips to help, including:

— Start preparing early. "Discuss what your team (or employees) should focus on throughout the holiday season/month," Cohen writes. "Break those activities into weekly or daily (as appropriate) tasks. Verify with your staff for crystal clear understanding across the entire team."

— Role-play. "Prepare some scenarios you think might possibly emerge over the holiday season," Cohen writes. "Meet with your team and role play how they would handle each situation while you are on vacation. ... Even if they confront a situation you have not role-played, it will be close enough to one of your role-play scenarios and they will be able to adapt."