Whether you’ve started a business from scratch, opened a branch of a franchise restaurant, or started as a manager for a large corporation knowing how to manage your vacation time properly is vital to your business relationships. After you have been grinding and working hard at some point you’ll take a vacation. Preparing before you leave the office can be the difference between having to take calls and emails while trying to relax, or being able to enjoy the time to rejuvenate and refresh your brain and body without interruption. If you prepare correctly, you can rest assured that business is being managed adequately while you are out of the office.
Here is a quick and dirty list of things to do before you go on your trip so you can maximize the time you have set aside to spend on yourself, or with your family and friends.
First, you need to ensure you have the right people set up as points of contact in case any of your customers, vendors, or contacts has a business emergency that needs to get taken care of immediately. You should set up an automatic reply email and a special voicemail message during this time. In your automatic reply email and voicemail message you should always list the appropriate person for your contacts to reach out to. It is usually best to perhaps list a few different contacts for different departments. You can list a contact for the shipping department, finance department, customer service etc. so the customer can get to the department they need to efficiently and directly without having to be transferred 5 times.
Second, create work schedules for your team to fill in some of the gaps while you are away. Obviously, you cannot burden your coworkers with all your tasks, but if there are important deadlines, deliveries, or responsibilities that need to be met or performed during your time out of the office communicate those and work them into the staff scheduling to ensure these duties are completed. A good idea you can implement is to communicate with your business team specific times of the day that you will be available to take calls or answer emails. This allows you to retreat from your phone, or other mobile devices and enjoy snorkeling, kayaking, skiing, or other activities without fear of missing an important call.
Third, communicate with coworkers and important clients to give them a heads up before you are out of the office. Unbeknownst to you, perhaps they have set reminders to follow up with you or place an order on a certain day. By letting them know ahead of time, you give them the courtesy of dealing with them personally to address their needs and show them you are thinking of them. It also gives you the opportunity to hand off any unfinished tasks, and make the introduction between your customer and your coworker before you leave. The customer then knows who to deal with in your place and it reduces the amount of ground work they have to put in to get their needs met.
Fourth, know what your upcoming schedule is for when you return and do a bit of arranging before you leave so you feel on track when you arrive back at the office. Do you have an upcoming board meeting? Do you have any quarterly or annual reports to present? Do you need to create a new plan to roll out a new product? Whatever your calendar indicates, do some of the work upfront before you take off so when you come back you don’t have to rush and put something sloppy or incomplete together.
The payoff of performing these pre-trip tasks will allow you to enjoy your time, and turn your thoughts off to get the recharge you need. Taking the time to set up your vacation at the office will determine whether your vacation is an actual vacation or just a day of working remotely.