Business before pleasure

You've earned it- a sabbatical, a getaway to a seaside resort, or just a week spent with your family. The sheer thought of escaping from the usual grind is exciting, but letting the idea run away with you is the last thing you should do.

Leaving a project pending, not keeping your colleagues informed well in advance, and taking things for granted can cost you your job. Smart planning and preparation is therefore a must before you take off on that much needed holiday.

When Prem decided to go on a holiday, he gave his colleague Paul access to the files on his computer.

This helped the team get the important files they were in sudden need of during Prem's absence, without much difficulty. Prem and Paul also had a mutual understanding.

Each one would pitch in to help with the others' work while one of them was away. This arrangement worked well for both parties.

Smooth sailing

If you are planning a vacation here are a few things to keep in mind-

* Give a written notice 30 to 45 days in advance if you intend taking a week's leave or more. A mere verbal sanction from your higher-up is not good enough. You need to hand in a written application for the leave to your boss or the reporting authority.

* Plan your vacation at a time when you don't have important deadlines or meetings scheduled.

* Discuss important issues that may arise during your absence with your team before you leave. Work out a solution.

* All the jobs that you normally do and the decisions you make should be reallocated or delegated to someone else for that period

* Inform important clients about your vacation a week in advance. Let them know whom to contact in your absence.

* Be at least a week ahead in your work. This will help you and your colleagues manage the workload better.

Nitty gritty

* Ask one of your colleagues to receive messages/collect mail on your behalf.

* Make one person responsible for getting in touch with you. Leave your contact number with that colleague. Ask him to leave a message for you only if there is an emergency.

* Clean up your desk.

* Make sure that you lock your drawer and cabinet and see that you don't leave any valuable items lying around.

* Leave the 'Out of Office Auto-reply' feature for your email on, for others to know when you will be back.

* Send in your weekly reports before you leave.

* Set aside one day after your vacation for catching up.

* Don't exert yourself too much before your vacation, if you do, you might spend a few days just recovering from it!

While holidaying

* Check your voice mail and email once in a while. This may take a little effort but goes a long way in ensuring that you stay connected.

* Do not take office work with you on a vacation

* Avoid carrying "smart" devices like laptops, cell phones and pagers or keep close tabs on what's going on at your workplace.

* Avoid thinking or worrying about work. A good vacation can leave you refreshed and rejuvenated. So make sure that you do the groundwork before you leave so that you can have a holiday with no worries and distractions, and catching up with work will be much easier when you get back.

ARCHANA JAYAKAR

archana.hyd@careercommunity.co.in