The sun is shining, the seagulls are stealing chips and ice-creams, the beaches are calling and you can almost taste that holiday cocktail/mocktail. But then a cold dread creeps in as you remember your email inbox, your endless diary commitments and the looming fear of what might go wrong while you are away. Many business owners and managers find it almost impossible to switch off completely because they are worried about what will happen if they are out of the office.
Many people feel they have to manage pre-holiday admin solo. They might spend the week before their dream holiday manically clearing their inboxes, scheduling social posts, setting up auto-replies and giving their mobile number to anyone/everyone who might possibly need it. They might brief colleagues on what to do in their absence and cross their fingers that the world doesn’t collapse whilst they are sunbathing in Spain (please note – in this example, the world collapsing is usually something that doesn’t actually meet ‘emergency level’ criteria… trust me!).
If that doesn’t sound like the ideal pre-holiday preparation for you, why not take a different approach and bring in holiday cover from a VA team? A Virtual Assistant could step in to look after things while you are away, so your business keeps running smoothly and you don’t have to return to a mountain (and subsequent avalanche) of emails and messages. They can monitor your inbox, respond to urgent messages and keep your diary under control so you are not overwhelmed with post-holiday chaos on your first day back.
If you do decide to hand over work to a colleague or a remote working business professional, it’s really helpful to ensure that you create a proper handover document. Take some time to write down key information about ongoing projects, who to contact for what, and to identify any deadlines coming up. Even if you think something is obvious, write it down anyway – the vast majority of business support professionals aren’t psychic, even if they are excellent in every other way!
If you are working with a VA team, give them access to the tools they will need. Let them know how you prefer to handle different types of messages, and be clear about what counts as an emergency that warrants a call to your sun lounger – it might also be worth mentioning this to customers too, to ensure that their expectations are managed in terms of if/when you might step in to support them yourself in the event of an actual emergency (in the incredibly unlikely event that that actually happens).
Most importantly, remember that taking a proper holiday is not a luxury but a necessity. Your brain, your health and your business will all thank you for it. With the right support in place, you really can leave your laptop at home and come back refreshed rather than frazzled, knowing that you aren’t returning to a monstrous mountain of ‘meh’ at work.