As the year winds down, many teams limp into January exhausted rather than energized.
A new Harvard Business Review essay argues that the problem isn’t how organizations start the year—it’s how they end it.
Chaotic year-end scrambles can distort how employees remember the entire year and drain motivation before the next one even begins.
To help ease teams into the new year, executives should consider a “Team Wrap-Up Week” in the final stretch of December, designed to close lingering gaps, reduce stress and create a sense of real completion.
By treating year-end like a strategic pit stop rather than a sprint, organizations can protect energy, reduce burnout and set up teams to return from the holidays focused, clear-headed and ready to perform.
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