We’ve been conditioned since childhood to think of summer as the fun season. Admit it, as a grown-up, you have looked on with a little bit of jealousy at kids who spend their days at the pool, or the front yard, or at a fun camp and away from their school desks.

Adults don’t get summer off, sadly. But despite that fact, summer still feels a little looser than the back-to-business feel of fall.

We asked our readers, “how do the rhythms of your office change in the summertime?” From Summer Fridays to being busier-than-ever, here’s how some organizations react to the warm weather months.

Kim Beals, Executive Director

IPEC-Americas

Our organization is a volunteer-driven association and our leaders keep our small staff of four super busy throughout the year. However, during the summer, our office shifts to summer hours starting Memorial Day and continuing through Labor Day. Summer hours provides staff the option to work remotely either Friday or Monday so everyone gets a three-day weekend all summer long. Our team stays productive throughout the summer with appropriate technology solutions.

Robin Howard, Senior Director

Council on Undergraduate Research

Our fiscal year ends June 30, and our membership year begins July 1. Spring and summer are thus our busiest months for membership renewals. Our annual business meeting is the last week in June, so we spend the last half of May and June prepping for that meeting. There is a lot of momentum from our volunteers after the meeting, so much of our creative thinking happens in July and August. We launch back into the academic school year at the end of summer just in time to start our audit process. There is no downtime for CUR!

Lisa Zarda, Executive Director

United States Swim School Association

Summertime is a little quieter in our office as our members are busy teaching kiddos how to swim in the warm summer months. Many of our schools offer year-round swim lessons, but there is an uptick in lessons over the summer months, so it’s a busy time of year for them. That means our office has fewer conference calls and more time to really gear up for our fall meeting.

This summer, we also instituted summer hours for the month of June and July. We work four 10- hour days and have a three-day weekend. The staff has been able to enjoy family and friends, as well as find some time to escape the Phoenix heat during these long weekends.

Julie Broadway, President

American Horse Council

It’s more like “Hot Fun in the Summertime!”

1. Summer is prime equestrian competition season so that means we have lots of balls to juggle.
2. Our annual conference is mid-June so pre and post-conference details mean the staff is really in high gear.
3. This year the air conditioning is broken in our building so “hot fun” has taken on a whole new meaning!

Lori Harvey, Executive Director

Building Contractors Association of Northeast Indiana

Our association serves the commercial construction industry. Summer is the busiest season for our members; hence, it’s a slower time for our office. At least it’s supposed to be! While it’s prime vacation time for our staff, it’s also prime time to get caught up on the many projects that get pushed down the priority list because of heavy meeting and event schedules during the other three seasons of the year.

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