Summer vacation is a point in time to relax and reflect on what happened over the first part of the year. But before you take a break, you need a vacation exit strategy, so that you can make the most of your time off and have as little issues as possible when you return. Let’s review a list of seven easy tips to improve this transition:
1. Coordinate your vacation with your manager.
That way, he/she can help you organise the back-up plan amongst your immediate team, ensuring there’s someone to cover responsibilities that can’t wait until you return. If needed, it may also help to plan with your this colleague and share key specifics that could help him/her. It’s important to put this in an email and not leave loose ends.
2. Set up automatic responses in your email and voicemails for your phone.
When someone needs to contact you, your email will be sending automatic responses, which say you are off. You can create a list of contact names and emails your colleagues might contact while you’re away. If you also have a business phone, you have two options: change your voicemail and include contact information or divert your phone number to your back-up colleague’s phone (with their consent).
3. Prioritise projects.
Focus on more urgent tasks and deadlines. Don’t worry if there’s something you could do before your vacation and you didn’t. If it is something with a later deadline that falls after your return from vacation, it can wait. Focus on tasks with closer/tighter deadlines first.
4. Make a to-do list.
Even before you’ve switched into vacation mode, create a to-do list to in order to have an easier return to work. That way, when you come back, you will have ready your to-do list with deadlines and all the new tasks will be added to this list. Maybe something new is more important that those tasks were pending, so you will have to reassign priorities.
5. Clean up.
Before your vacation, try to leave your email and your desk clean. For email, if you need to track some topics, you can use the red ‘follow up’ flag. It is a good resource to remind you of a topic/task. Per your company rules, you may need to organise your desk (clear sensitive/proprietary documents) and delegate someone to manage access to the cabinet that holds documents/notes you’ve clearly labelled, in case your colleague needs something for tasks he/she is to assist you with. It may also help ease your mind while you’re away.
6. Review yourself.
Track your achievement of goals to be able to identify which ones you are progressing with, what you must improve on and what challenges you can define for the rest of the year. You are likely to return to work with much more motivation. You can also ask for feedback from your managers and teammates.
7. Plan ahead.
When you come back, schedule a quick 15-minute chat with your manager or your cover person to catch up on what you will have missed. Then slowly readjust to your work groove. Don’t try to do everything on your first day. Follow your updated to-do list and take it easy!
And now that you have these practical tips, why not try? These will help you to relax, disconnect and enjoy your time off with people you love without worrying about work. And most importantly, Happy Summer Holidays!
Paula Dalmau
Communications Coordinator Sales and Marketing, Medline Iberia
Paula is a passionate Spanish writer based in Madrid. Her interests are well-being, emotional intelligence and business topics. Her educational background is in journalism, advertising, public relations and digital marketing. Learn more on LinkedIn.
20 December 2021
