With the snow having melted in most states by now (sorry, Minnesota), entrepreneurs everywhere are emerging from the intense winter work hibernation where they put in early mornings and late nights, to stretch their legs and feel the sunshine that comes with spring.
Now that tax season is over and we’re four months into the calendar year, it’s time for small business owners to take a break to rest and recharge before hitting the ground running again. The best way to accomplish this? Take a quick spring break vacation! The trick is just making sure that you don’t hit the road without prepping your work team on what to do in your absence.
Be specific with the dates you leave and return by
No need to alert the office of every detail behind your snorkeling adventure Tuesday at noon, but a broad itinerary can be helpful to provide in a companywide email. Let everyone know the expected dates you’re planning to be out and the expected date you’ll be back, with additional emails provided in the event of return flight delays back or weather conditions that could potentially postpone your vacation entirely. Be sure to make all departments directly affected by your leaving is aware of this information at least a week or two ahead of time so that no one’s surprised that you’re up and leaving!
Try and stay in the loop with everyone, but don’t be glued to your phone
If you’re going somewhere with access to internet – great! But if you’re heading overseas or are quite literally over the sea on a cruise ship, finding reliable WiFi can be a bit trickier. Before you go, know what the internet situation is going to be like so you can prep accordingly. If you will have little to no access to the internet, your team needs to know that and should be encouraged to mark emails with high priority as such so you know to address those responses first. If you do have a strong connection, take the time to look over emails with high priority and general messages alike, but don’t spend the duration of your vacation working either. It’ll make it a lot harder to relax if you can’t put down your iPad!
Assign ahead of time
Before you leave, make sure to clearly lay out who is in charge of what along with specific instructions for each task. Make these assignments ahead of time so that if there are any questions for these tasks, they can be talked over before you take off so as to minimize any miscommunication while you’re out. Make sure that your instructions are as clear as possible, walk your employees through the process, and then trust them to do their best while you’re away!