Are You Making the Most of the Summer Slow Down?

It’s that time of year again. Colleagues are taking it in turns to head off to the sun, the roads are noticeably quieter and everything is scheduled to start happening again in September ‘when everyone’s back’.

Sound familiar? As a Construction PR agency this has been the pattern for us for the past 26 years, as both the media and the built environment sector take a break during August.

While it can be frustrating when you’re struggling to get hold of anyone or develop important projects, the hiatus can also be an opportunity to take a step back, assess progress and be your own critical friend. Only then can you start the final quarter of the year by planning effectively and focusing on deliverable outcomes and areas of strength.

Any change of pace is difficult and often we don’t have control over when those changes happen. We all need to hit the ground running in January, for example, at a time when many would prefer to ease themselves into the New Year, but the discipline of adapting to change and maximising opportunity is fundamental to any commercial success.

So how can we really take advantage of the summer slow down?

1. Take a step back: if you have been putting in long hours, the chance to leave a bit earlier and take a proper lunch break can help re-charge the batteries when things get busier again.
2. Assess progress: Often, when you’re working flat out, you just keep going, assuming that the outcomes are aligned to your level of effort and volume of outputs, but is that really the case? Taking time to review what’s working, how much you’ve achieved and where more (or less) effort is needed is a very valuable exercise that could help you work more efficiently.
3. Be your own critical friend: regardless of how good your planning and implementation has been, there’s always room for improvement. Use times when you’re less busy to ask where you could do things better. Continuous improvement is at the heart of every successful business.
4. Plan: Effective planning is fundamental to any PR campaign and any business so time invested here is never wasted.