How to Take Care of Your Office Team on Vacation
The modern pace of life requires being online almost all the time. However, everyone needs to have a rest and go on vacation to not meet a burnout sooner or later. Hitting this ‘reset’ button is very important for both office and remote workers.
The quarantine restrictions are becoming not so harsh, and many of us start visiting at least local resorts within the country. So, when it comes to going somewhere to the seaside, we still can’t shut down our phones for the whole vacation period.
We decided to provide useful recommendations to those who can’t fully detach from office life and prefer to work remotely. They will come in handy to managers, team leaders, senior specialists, and team players whose work affects the results of the whole team. We are sure you’ve already recognised yourself in this description! ;)
1. Experience Benefits of a Mobile Office
First of all, you hardly want to carry a laptop with you to work remotely. Nevertheless, everyone has a mobile phone even while sunbathing on the beach. You will never miss important queries requiring fast responding.
- Signing a document? You need only a couple of seconds for that!
- Reviewing tasks done by your teammates? Do it not leaving the beach.
- Approving contents for your project? Check everything while having dinner at the restaurant.
All this won’t take much time and distract you from having rest. And the most pleasant thing — you have the phone with you anytime and anywhere.
The point is to find a great tool for all these things. Collabio Spaces will soon be your best helper when being away and working remotely! ;)
2. Prepare Your To-Do List Before Leaving
To not spend precious minutes on sorting documents on vacation, prioritise important tasks in advance. If deadlines match with the vacation dates, make notes on what and when you have to send/approve/review/etc.
Prioritising upcoming needs might reveal non-urgent tasks that can be done after your return to the usual working mode.
For the most important things, set an alarm in a calendar and you won’t ever let your colleagues down.
3. Set Healthy Boundaries
Getting things done on vacation doesn’t mean you should be working remotely all day long. Your family or friends need attention and they sure don’t want to feel neglected.
So, dedicate a limited time period for checking the inbox and doing some office tasks. For example, it may be half an hour in the early morning and one more half an hour in the evening before you go to a promenade.
You should enjoy your vacation without working stress!
4. Inform Everyone on Your Vacation
If your colleagues are aware that you’re having rest, they won’t urge you to answer every message in a minute. So, inform everyone who may need your help by sending an email telling about your upcoming vacation and your ability to work remotely.
1) Here is an example of a ‘vacation’ email:
Hello [insert the client’s or colleague’s name],
I will be out of the office from 20.07.2020 to 27.07.2020. I will still respond to your emails, thus, this can take up to one business day. Should you have any urgent questions, feel free to contact Jane Black at janeblack@email.com and she will assist you.
Warm regards,
John Smith
People should realise you won’t be available during normal working hours but will respond to important inquiries within one or two business days.
2) Set an autoresponder for everyone who contacts you during this time. It can be something like this:
Hi,
Thank you for the email! I am out of the office from 20.07.2020 until 27.07.2020. I will do my best to respond to your email within one business day.
If this is urgent, please contact Jane Black at janeblack@email.com.
Best regards,
John Smith
Alternatively, you can modify this message depending on your specialisation, as replies of a Chief Technical Officer and a Sales Manager may differ a lot. Some projects allow using a creative approach when greeting your addressees.
5. Ensure the Internet Connection
You might check new emails using roaming or Wi-Fi in hotels, shopping malls, and public places.
- Order a roaming package before you leave to always be online.
- Make sure there is a good Wi-Fi connection in a hotel or in a house/apartment you rent.
Also, if you edit something when working remotely, save file copies to your phone, just in case the connection is interrupted. Otherwise, you may lose all the progress.
Key Takeaways
So, to feel wonderful during your entire vacation and to not experience guilt for leaving your colleagues to their fate, follow these tips:
- Don’t take your laptop with you, as your phone will be enough to perform the same tasks.
- Plan which tasks’ deadlines fall on your vacation.
- Set your ‘email-checking’ schedule, disconnect to have a rest. Forget about your duties for the whole day and enjoy having pleasure together with your loved ones!
- Appoint a person who can replace you on urgent matters during your absence.
- Inform your colleagues, partners and clients on your vacation. Use our email templates, if you want. ;)
- Stay connected to the Internet, as there might be emergency situations. Back up important files to your phone storage.
