How to prepare for time off
The festive season is approaching, and we all want to take some well-deserved time off to enjoy the festivities. But, before we can go off and relax, we need to ensure our business is also prepared for our absence and the logistics around taking this time off.
To help you, we’ve pulled together some of our top tips on how to prepare for time off this Christmas.
Decide when you’re planning to take time off
The first thing to think about is when you’re planning to take time off. Decide when you want to be off from, how long for and when you will be back working. If you’re a business owner, you also need to consider whether the business will be on complete shutdown or if you need a skeleton team in place.
Once that’s done, it’s time to communicate it! To customers, clients and the team.
Plan for your time off
As with anything, the key is in the planning! If you haven’t got one already, it’s time to create a plan now.
Complete shutdown What work needs to normally be completed during this period? Do you need to adjust deadlines? What will happen to any enquiries or messages? Will you set an out of office or an automated message? Are you likely to dip in to ‘check’ things in between? If you have an online store, do you need to update delivery times? What about stock levels before, during and after?
Semi shutdown Who is going to be working and when? What are the priorities for workload during the festive period? Is there a backup plan for cover, but also workload if it’s really quiet and the team end up with nothing to do? Also consider if they need any support. Is there a senior member of the team available on call for emergencies?
Prepare for the new year
As well as planning for the time you’re going to be taking off, don’t forget to consider your return. Realistically are you going to be back in and out of meetings, travelling here, there and everywhere on your first day back? This will result in an increased backlog to deal with and not a great start to the year.
Give yourself at least half a day, or a full day to work through emails, messages and enquiries. Take time to review your plan for the next quarter. What are your priorities? Review your to do list. What do you need to be tackling first?
Just giving yourself this extra little bit of time will help you get organised ready for the last quarter of the year.
Manage customer expectations
It doesn’t matter whether you sell products or services, you need to manage customer expectations. Informing them of the dates when things will be closed or on semi-shutdown. When is the last delivery date? What’s the last date your services are available? It’s important to manage their expectations to avoid dissatisfaction and maintain relationships.
Plan your marketing and promotions
Just because you’re not working, it doesn’t mean you should stop marketing or your visibility. Set aside time to look at your marketing plans for the period. In this digital age more people are visiting social media during their downtime. This can lead to an optimal time for businesses to reach out to potential customers and clients.
Identify what channels and going to be worthwhile posting to. What content is relevant to this time of year for your ideal client. Will you send season’s greetings to customers and clients?
Schedule and automate
If you can, are there things that you can schedule in advance or maybe set up some automations? Whether it’s scheduling in your social media, setting up an automated bot or automated email sequence to respond to general enquiries. If you’re not already using schedules or automations, now is the time to try. It will take some of the pressure off, allowing you to enjoy time off while things are running behind the scenes.
Enjoy your time off!
It doesn’t matter whether you’re planning to take a day or a couple of weeks off, remember to relax and enjoy yourself! Taking time off allows us to clear our minds, to reset everything going on in our head, adjust our focus and recharge our batteries. Leaving us feeling ready and raring to go in the new year!
If you’re looking for support before, during or after the Christmas season, why not get in touch to find out how the VASS team could help you enjoy your time off this Christmas. Call us now on 020 3370 4075 to find out more.