Preparing for Time Away

The summer months are always an exciting time. From family vacations near and far, backyard BBQs, pool trips, and the many activities in between, a lot is happening this time of year.

Many people are in and out of the office, with varying schedules and summer commitments. The best way to avoid gaps and remain productive is by planning strategically for your time away, particularly if you are in a production role like sales or recruiting. We recently shared several tips with our team to promote productivity in the summer that can be applied regardless of your role or industry as producer.

While it’s critical for employees to take time away, we believe focusing on managing expectations, preparation, and utilizing technology to fill gaps will keep business opportunities flowing while you’re away, resulting in positive outcomes for you, your colleagues, and your business.

Expectation Management

• Prioritize clear and consistent communication throughout the summer.
• As you prepare for time away, be sure to clearly communicate your plans and time away with your team internally, as well as externally with important stakeholders. Don’t forget to communicate appropriately with each audience.
• Set your out of office message and ensure you have a plan for coverage for any needs that arise while you are away from your desk.
• Consider your time away and think about what might typically come up during that time of the week, month, quarter, etc. Prepare your colleague who is covering for you appropriately.

Activity

• Even if you are away from your desk, other people are still working. To avoid any lags in new business opportunities, work to keep your proactive outbound activity consistent.
• Think about your typical outreach & activity and try to achieve that same level throughout the summer – perhaps just more one week than another. For example, if you will be out of the office for a week, send twice as many emails or phone calls for two weeks prior to your absence. That way, when you return you will still have a healthy pipeline of opportunities. Don’t forget to make sure someone is following up with them in your absence!

Technology Utilization

• Think about maintaining consistency both internally and externally, even if you are gone, and consider how technology might be able to help you achieve those goals.
• Whether it is utilizing automated communication or scheduling emails or calendar reminders for your internal or external contacts, be sure to leverage all the technology available to you to help you sustain a consistent workflow this summer.
• Make a list of holidays, regular tasks, and other things you typically “check in” about that might occur during your absence. Then, automate that outreach or set reminders for your team to check in on those activities while you are away.

Have questions about how to manage your team’s productivity or time off? We can help. Contact us today!