It’s that time of year again. The kids have been released from their school-shaped cage. That traffic-fuelled commute has almost become a pleasant early morning drive. The office is derelict. The only thing remaining that confirms people once worked here are the ringing out of office phones and a few stained coffee mugs that are starting to develop a greenish hue.
It’s summer.
Soon it will be your turn to take that annual leave you’ve had planned, be it a trip to the alps with friends or a family retreat to Cornwall.
Whatever your plans for this summer, it’s essential to make sure you prepare yourself and the office for your impending departure.
Here are five helpful tips taken from Robert Half on how to prepare for your annual leave.
https://www.dpgplc.co.uk/2018/08/preparing-for-annual-leave/
Comments
Great timing Sam. This came in, as you know, just before I finished on holiday.
Looking through the tips, they all seem to be centred around collaboration and strong team work - preparing others as well as yourself. Let other know your availibility was certainly one I ticked off. I loved choosing my Out of Office message this time around using the Out of Office generator from Hubspot. Well worth a look.
For me the other tips is on handover...... As you know, when our lead was off the other week, it was nice for us to compile for him a bulllet pointed handover for when he returned. In a similar way, I appreciate your support and that of Richy today helping me to get my head around what's been taking place, where we are and what we need to do. So perhaps a nice one to add onto the list is .... 'give people a heads up that when you return you'll need a quick handover'
Right, now I'm back, I guess I best forget about this holiday thing and crack on!
Great post Sam and thank you for sharing.
Perfect timing as Im off on holiday soon and am already planning the next few weeks in the run up to making sure everything is covered during my absence.
While planning cover and starting to signpost everyone elsewhere now (because lets face it, I'll be off before you know it) I have actually used the opportunity to make some permanent changes to communications for example. While I realise that certain communications can be signposted elsewhere in my absence, I asked the question "Why cant these types of queries always go to the xxx Inbox?", and Voila - everyone agreed. So not only trying to cut down my workload that is waiting for me when I come back and ensuring everyone gets the answers they need when they need it, I have hopefully paved the way for smarter working when I get back.
Its also useful to remind people not to copy me in on email trails / conversations and to make a list for me instead for when I return of anything that I specifically need to be aware of. This is a tried and tested method that works for me and another thing that tends to stick with people afterwards.
Im all for smarter working but also making sure that the job still gets done when Im away from the office.
This was a fantastic response Angela!
Some really good ideas here, we're all for making our working lives easier. Be that before, or after, our holidays! Or in this case both!