Prepare for Peak
Are you prepared for the pressure?
Prepare for peak
Are you prepared for the pressure
The readiness check
How many would you recognise in your organisation?
When things get busy, small gaps in preparation can quickly become bigger challenges.
Managers may be dealing with more difficult situations. Employees can experience greater stress and fatigue. New or temporary team members may need more support. And approaches that work well during quieter periods may not work as effectively when pressure increases.
Take two minutes to consider the statements shared.
There are no right or wrong answers. The aim is simply to help you spot areas that may be worth exploring before your busiest period arrives.
Identified an area you’d like to explore? You can book a free 30-minute Peak Readiness Conversation with an Oakwood specialist using the button at the bottom of the page. We’ll talk through your challenges, share ideas and resources, and help you consider practical next steps.
Managing challenging behaviour
Customer-facing employees aren’t always sure how to respond when behaviour becomes aggressive or difficult.
Managers aren’t always confident stepping in when a situation starts to escalate.
People rely on individual experience rather than a consistent approach to managing challenging situations.
Teams have guidance, but don’t always get the opportunity to practise how they would respond in real situations.
Stress & wellbeing
Managers notice increased stress, frustration or fatigue when workloads rise.
Managers aren’t always confident recognising when someone is beginning to struggle.
Employees aren’t always sure where to turn when pressure starts to affect their wellbeing.
Support tends to be put in place once a problem emerges, rather than before pressure builds.
Preparing your people
New or temporary employees may have limited time to prepare before joining busy teams.
Experienced employees often end up supporting less confident colleagues when things get difficult.
Your existing training doesn’t always reflect the situations your people are actually encountering.
You haven’t recently reviewed whether your people have the skills and confidence they’ll need during your busiest period.
Learning from experience
Difficult incidents are dealt with at the time, but the learning isn’t always captured afterwards.
Feedback from employees or customers isn’t consistently used to identify training or support needs.
Different teams or locations sometimes handle similar situations in different ways.
How did you do?
How many did you recognise?
If you’ve recognised several, it doesn’t mean you’re not prepared. It could simply highlight areas worth taking a closer look at before your busiest period arrives.
The important questions are:
Are we preparing for the situations we know are likely to happen?
Do our managers know what to do when pressure increases – or are we relying on experience and instinct?
Are we learning from what happens and using it to strengthen our approach?
Want to take the next step?
Come with a challenge. Leave with some ideas.
If the check has highlighted an area you’d like to explore, book a free 30-minute Peak Readiness Conversation with an Oakwood specialist.
We’ll listen to the challenges you’re anticipating, share practical ideas and resources, and help you think about what could make the biggest difference to your people.
Looking for practical support now?
Our Prepare for Peak Resource Hub brings together practical guidance and resources covering wellbeing, mental health, stress, aggression and conflict management.
Prepare for Peak
Are you prepared for the pressure?
A 2-minute readiness check for your busiest time of year.
