Keeping Business Moving During Holiday Breaks

Emerging Innovations is a small company and like other small companies staff holiday always has an impact on projects and response times. Not that we begrudge our holiday as our staff work very hard to keep people happy!

Here are some ideas on how we mitigate any impact of staff being away:

1. Advise people in plenty of time
If like us you deal with pretty much the same key clients on a regular basis then let them know in plenty of time that you won't be available. Often it's a good talking point as to where you're going etc that serves to strengthen the relationship. It certainly allows them to play deliverables and queries around your vacation.

2. Don't just disappear
If you are a very small business, perhaps you are the only contact your customers have, it is vital that you don't just disappear. If you're going to be somewhere where you can't check your emails or can't make phone calls on urgent matters then make sure you have somebody in place that can help. Reciprocal holiday arrangements between companies is common in a number of industries and we have been looking after the phones for another company over the past week ourselves. They would do the same for us if the need arose (fortunately we have more than 1 member of staff and stagger our holidays!).

3. Outsource what you can.
While I was away on my last vacation I came back to find that a key project that I had been working on had moved on significantly due to the efforts of a third party that I had commissioned. The key to this being a success is based on a good solid brief before you go. Take time to document the exact requirement, what you expect to be delivered and when. You can further enhance the outsourcing process by having a shortlist, like we do, of people that we use regularly. This way they get to know us and we get to know how they work best.

4. Allocate time to catch-up on your return.
Don't kid yourself that you can return from your holiday and plough straight on with moving projects forward. Even the most diligent worker needs time to readjust to work, find out what has happened in their absence and to generally catch up with emails and other assorted bits of paperwork. Factor this in to make sure you get a good, productive soft landing on your return.