7 powerful ways to transform your team’s energy from Friday slumps to Monday momentum
7 powerful ways to transform your team’s energy from Friday slumps to Monday momentum
Published on Fast Company, Apr 3, 2025, by Shayne Fitz-Coy.
As the CEO of a fast-growing financial holding company, I’ve witnessed firsthand how the weekly energy cycle affects productivity. When Friday afternoon rolls around, the focused intensity of the early week has slid into casual conversations and clock-watching. Similarly, Monday mornings can start with a sluggish energy that takes hours to throw off.
According to research from Gallup, a staggering 77% of employees worldwide are either not engaged (62%) or actively disengaged (15%) in their work. This global engagement crisis costs the world economy nearly $9 trillion in lost productivity annually. The bookends of each workweek - Friday afternoon and Monday morning - represent the most vulnerable periods for this disengagement to manifest.
Over nearly two decades of leadership experience, I’ve developed practical strategies that have transformed these challenging bookends of the workweek into opportunities for team engagement and momentum-building. The results have been remarkable: team members complete significantly more deliverables before weekends, our project timelines have shortened, and Monday discussions have become more focused and productive.
We track these improvements through weekly project milestone completion rates, team sentiment surveys, and by measuring the average time-to-resolution on tasks assigned early in the week versus those assigned later. What started as simple workplace experiments has evolved into practices that strengthen our performance at these critical weekly transition points.
Here are five proven ways to keep your team engaged on Friday afternoons, plus two powerful strategies to jumpstart Monday mornings.
LEVERAGE THE FRIDAY NEWS CYCLE
The key to maintaining Friday focus is to establish a company news cycle that creates anticipation and positive energy as the week closes. Your communication should be relevant, light, and leave team members feeling good about being part of your organization as they head into their weekend.
Here are five high-impact Friday announcements that energize my teams.
- CELEBRATE NEW SALES VICTORIES
Did you land a big client this week? Was there a hard-fought deal that finally closed? Share the specifics with everyone. People are naturally motivated by knowing their company is winning new business; it creates security and excitement simultaneously. Share good news.
When we recently signed our largest client to date, I shared not just the news but also highlighted the nine-month journey our sales team surmounted to make it happen. The team broke into applause, proud of their coworkers. Don’t we want our team feeling proud and motivated for the week ahead?
- HIGHLIGHT MEDIA PLACEMENTS AND SOCIAL MENTIONS
Positive mentions of the company create valuable sharing opportunities for your team. When we were featured in a prominent industry publication last month, I shared screenshots and links in our Friday announcement. By Monday, our team had collectively generated over 200 additional social media shares, amplifying our visibility far beyond the original feature.
- ANNOUNCE BROKEN RECORDS AND NEAR-MISSES
Performance metrics make perfect Friday material. Whether it’s sales targets, marketing engagement rates, or production records, communicating these milestones broadly energizes your entire organization. At my companies, we track “PRs” (personal records) for various teams and celebrate when they’re surpassed.
Recently, our accounts team achieved a 97% client satisfaction rating - their highest ever. When we shared this milestone, it not only generated pride within that team but sparked healthy competition among other departments eager to break their own benchmarks. Even near-misses create momentum; acknowledging a team that reached 98% of an ambitious target can be just as motivating as celebrating those who exceed their goals.
- SHARE CUSTOMER COMPLIMENTS AND FEEDBACK
There’s nothing more motivating than knowing your work makes a difference. Each Friday, we share screenshots of genuine customer feedback, both the glowing praise and the constructive criticism.
One heartfelt customer review said our company’s work transformed their business and became the catalyst for a complete overhaul. The team was so touched by the impact they had made that they volunteered to rethink our entire approach.
- RECOGNIZE BIRTHDAYS AND WORK ANNIVERSARIES
Personal acknowledgment might be the most overlooked and powerful Friday practice. We recognize upcoming birthdays and celebrate work anniversaries with specific mentions of each person’s contributions.
When one of our developers reached his twenty-year milestone, we shared five specific projects over the years where his work led directly to client success. Personalized recognition costs nothing but delivers a ton of value.
TRANSFORM MONDAY MORNINGS WITH STRATEGIC SPRINTS
While Fridays benefit from celebration, Mondays require a different approach. The key is creating focused, collaborative momentum through what I call “strategic sprints.”
- IMPLEMENT PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT SPRINTS
Begin with tangible, visible improvements to your workspace. Select a physical area needing attention and set a 30-minute timer for the entire team to transform it.
When our office kitchen had become disorganized, we started Monday with a 20-minute all-hands sprint. Not only did we create a more pleasant environment, but the physical activity and immediate visible results energized everyone. These productivity hacks help our companies escape the typical Monday malaise.
Pick something small and get it done together - early in the week.
- LAUNCH COLLABORATIVE PLANNING SPRINTS
As your team grows accustomed to Monday sprints, transition to strategic work planning. Break into small cross-functional groups and challenge them to map out their week with concrete daily objectives.
The key insight here is granularity. We’ve found that teams who define specific daily milestones achieve more of their weekly goals than those who set only weekly targets. This approach allows for course correction long before Friday afternoon arrives.
Occasionally, we use these sprint sessions for seasonal planning like holiday events or team outings. By setting strict time boundaries (never ever more than 30-45 minutes) and clear parameters, we maintain productivity while building anticipation for future team experiences.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Building a high-performance team doesn’t happen by accident. By implementing these seven strategies, you can transform the energy slumps at both ends of your workweek into catalysts for productivity and engagement.
Structured Friday and Monday practices can evolve into a team that collaborates more effectively, communicates more openly, delivers more consistently, and enjoys work more throughout the entire week.
Because when your team feels both appreciated and purposeful, everybody wins, especially your bottom line.
Originally published in Fast Company.