Prepping for vacation — Here’s what you need to know.

The summer season is upon us and so begins one of the needlessly stressful times of the year for associates - notifying partners that you will be taking an extended vacation!

When planning a vacation, there are always a slew of to-dos you need to consider: choosing a location, deciding on a time, booking a hotel, organizing travel, packing your luggage, etc. The same is true for planning how your work will get done and be covered while you’re away.  

Creating a task list can help ease the transition, ensuring everything is taken care of while you’re away. It’s never too soon to begin to plan for your trip. Enjoy a stress-free vacation with the confidence that your work is handled by following this simple list.

Pre-vacation to-dos:

Step 1: Notify your partners early. 

Anyone who may be impacted by your absence (cough-cough partners), including anyone potentially taking on additional responsibilities, should be notified as early as possible. Ideally, whenever possible, give them three months notice. This helps with schedule coordinating and preparing them for taking over any of your responsibilities during this time. After the initial notification, send reminders each month and in the weeks leading up to the vacation so everyone is aware and prepared.

Step 2: Make detailed, up-to-date checklists.

As soon as you know your vacation is set, begin to put together detailed checklists that clearly outline all matters you are working on heading into vacation. Having a clear guide will allow the associate who is covering for you to see the big picture of the matter and an up-to-date status on all the moving parts.

Step 3: Talk it out. 

Two weeks out from your vacation, schedule time on the calendar to talk over in detail the checklists and any outstanding work the covering associate will be handling during your time away. Review key documents, issues and people, and begin including the covering associate on all emails on that matter. This allows you to introduce the associate to your clients and gives them a point of familiar contact while you are away.

Step 4: Send out last-minute reminders. 

When you’re one week out from your vacation, send reminders to all partners and clients. Remind them that you will be OOO and direct them to whomever they should contact should they have a question. Check in with your covering associate and ask them if they have any questions on the matter and update them with any changes that may have occurred over the last week.

Step 5: Final run-through. 

Before you can go full vacation-mode, make sure to give any final updates to the covering associates and send one final reminder to your partners. It is always a good idea to thank them for taking on the extra work to allow you to have time off to recharge and come back better. 

Follow these 5 steps and you should be able to confidently step away from your work for some much needed R&R. Do you have other steps you like to take before vacation? Share them below in the comments! 

Now go enjoy that vacation! ;)

Have you read last month’s article, Five reasons to take a vacation? If you aren’t yet sold on the idea of setting your OOO for a few days to get away and clear your mind, then I’d suggest you start there.