Don’t Leave Headaches When You Leave for Summer Vacation
Summer is a time when many people take vacation. It is also a time when friction develops among coworkers because someone went on vacation without touching base with them beforehand. The vacationer may have left some loose ends his or her coworkers get stuck having to tie up.
If you are taking time off, even if just sheltering in place during the pandemic, make sure you plan for it, so there are no annoying surprises for your colleagues while you are gone. Here are some things you should do.
Make an automatic reply message
If customers or colleagues call or email you while you are on vacation, and they don’t get any response, they will naturally become very frustrated. You can avoid this situation by making an automatic reply email message and voicemail. The message should explain how long you will be unavailable and who can be contacted in your absence.
Get in touch with clients
About a week or two before you take your vacation, get in touch with your most important clients to let them know you are leaving. Ask them if there is anything that needs to be addressed before you go. This will give them a heads up, with enough time to tie up any loose ends, and it will help to reduce your stress levels as well, knowing that any problems have been handled.
Look down the road
Check your calendar to see what deadlines are coming up several weeks after your vacation. This way you can prepare for them by making sure people have what they need before you leave, rather than having them try to get in touch with you while you are away.
Let people know what your vacation protocol is
In other words, what procedures are you going to follow while away – will you be reachable by phone or email, or are you planning to completely disconnect from work? Are there certain things you want to be notified about? Let your colleagues and clients know what protocol you will be following.
Give colleagues a lot of lead time
Let your coworkers know about your vacation plans well ahead of time. Inform them at least one week before you leave. This way, they will have plenty of time to talk to you about tasks or work projects where they need your input.
Delegate some tasks to your team
If you are a manager, your vacation time presents a good opportunity to delegate some of your responsibilities to your team. It shows the trust you have in them and gives them new challenges to work on. It also takes some of the burden off of you, so you can enjoy your time off more.
Need Help to Cover Summer Vacations?
Why should you work with Insurance Relief? We are an insurance staffing expert and ally who understands your unique skills and needs. We have a tremendous amount of experience in the insurance arena. Insurance Relief works with brokers, carriers, and third-party administrators to match people with the job that fits them the best, positions ranging from entry level to senior management. We invest the time to truly understand your career goals and then do our best to find meaningful opportunities for you. Give Insurance Relief a call today!
