Have a Great Vacation: How to Leave for a Week Without a Disaster

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

You've worked hard all year--and now it's here: Your summer vacation. The big question is: how will things at the office fare in your absence? Every manager's fear is that work will simply not get done, or worse, things will fall apart when they leave.

Walter Lippman, American intellectual and Pulitzer prize winner says "The genius of a good leader is to leave behind him a situation which common sense, without the grace of genius, can deal with successfully."

So, here are some tips to help your team deal successfully while you take some time off.

Plan to Work--or Not Work--Before You Leave

Before you leave make a decision on how involved you want to be with work while you're away. Some people like to separate completely while others like to have some contact. A survey done by CareerBuilder found that nearly half (49%) of employers expect employees to check in while they are on vacation, particularly if they are working on an important assignment or project. No matter what you decide, plan on sticking to it so you can plan appropriately. If you do choose to work while away, make sure before you leave that your laptop, iPad, or other technology is working properly. Also, look into roaming charges so that you aren't caught off guard by high phone bills.

Hand Off

There are some things at your job that only you can do. Those are the things that you should focus on completing before you leave. Once those pieces are handled, find out who on your team can be responsible for everything else while you're out. Separating the "you-must-dos" from the "someone-else-can-dos" is a difficult task. Go through your tasks a few times to ensure there aren't any extra things you can hand off.

Assign Emergencies

It is almost guaranteed that some emergency will arise while you're away. If you plan on being completely detached, assign someone you trust who is familiar with the project to be on call. In most cases, if you've communicated well, your on-call person will be empowered to make a suitable decision and keep things moving forward.

Speaking Of Communication, Make Sure You Do So

Once you've figured out which individuals are responsible for tasks while you're away, take time a week in advance to communicate with the rest of the team and your clients. An email with a list of names of point people for each project is great for internal communication. For external communication, give clients and vendors the name and contact information they will need-- nothing more. Lastly, make sure you create informative Out Of Office email and voice messages so if someone needs to get in touch, they know who to contact.

Vacation Recovery

It's often assumed that by your last day of vacation you'll be relaxed and rejuvenated. Most of the time however, vacationing is exhausting and the transition back into normal life can be tricky. Give yourself an extra day at the end of vacation to get back in the swing of things. This can be a good day to check some emails and maybe work a bit from home so as not to be blindsided on your first day back.

Taking time for vacation is important and helps to clear your mind--making you more productive upon your return. A little forethought and planning can help to ease the stress so often felt upon leaving, and more so, upon returning from a nice time away.