It’s 9:15am on a Wednesday in August.
Half the chairs are empty. Out-of-office messages are pinging in.
You’ve got a budget review at 11, a stakeholder update by Friday, and a project milestone that can’t slip.
Here’s the question:
Does your team barely notice the absences – because people step up, cover gaps, and keep everything moving?
Or does it feel like dragging a three-legged chair – slow, wobbly, and exhausting?
Why August shows you the truth
When resources are stretched, culture becomes visible. In a high-performing team:
- Everyone knows the shared goal – and works toward it, even if it’s not “their” task.
- Asking for help feels safe, offering help is second nature.
- Trust and respect are built into daily behaviour.
When that’s missing:
- Silos harden.
- Work slows.
- Stress rises.
- People quietly start looking elsewhere.
If August is exposing cracks, now’s the time to act
Ask yourself:
- Is turnover eroding relationships?
- Is your vision clear – and repeated often enough to stick?
- Are individual priorities outweighing shared team goals?
Two ways to reset before the autumn push
- Team Walkshop – Get your people moving, talking, and reconnecting in a fresh environment that sparks ideas.
- Away Day Design – A targeted, high-impact day to rebuild trust, reignite collaboration, and set your team up for high performance.
The evidence is clear
Team off-sites aren’t “just a jolly”. Done well, they build trust and psychological safety – both strongly linked to higher collaboration, productivity, and retention. Face to face connection sparks a deeper, faster impact than any email thread or Teams meeting ever will.
Let’s make sure your September team is stronger than your July team.
Book a call with me to design the reset your team needs.
