Managing marketing and business when you’re away: an out-of-office checklist
Prioritizing rest and vacation might not seem like a productive use of time as a business owner, but these periods of time off of work are often just as important as the time spent working.
Time away from your desk can give you the opportunity to replenish your motivation, productivity, creativity, and energy. Failing to make time for this rest? A quick path to burnout.
When you’re wearing so many hats in your company though, it can be difficult to justify not only taking this time off, but the work that accompanies trying to batch your work or delegate tasks to prepare for time away.
With a little preemptive planning, boundary setting, and delegating, it’s a lot easier to unplug and to enjoy your time away without guilt, and to have your business run smoothly without you.
Here’s how to set yourself up for success.
Plan as much as you can in advance
Ideally you want to be scheduling your time off at the beginning of the year, as you’re taking a holistic view of what lies ahead in your life and business.
What are your goals for the year? How many weeks do you want to take off of work? Which of these times off will be small staycations and where do you want to plan longer periods of time off-the-grid?
If you want rest and vacation to be priorities, you need to treat them like such, planning them the same way you likely plan your product launches or marketing, months in advance.
This also gives you a long runway to work ahead on projects, as well as prevents you from planning any major launches or delivery dates for that time.
Set expectations for your time off
As the time for your vacation approaches, begin to get crystal clear about what this time away entails.
How long will you be off of work?
What boundaries will you set for your time off with your clients, prospects, and other contacts?
Will you be available per usual, have limited availability, or be fully unplugged?
Each vacation will likely look a little different, and so it’s important to clearly communicate and set expectations with your clients and team for what your upcoming time off will entail.
Be sure to inform others of these parameters ahead of time (a minimum of two weeks), being respectful of their schedules and resources.
Your vacation shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone.
Block your vacation in your calendar so people can’t book you for meetings or projects, and share the event with any company or employee calendars so everyone is on the same page.
Wrap-up or find a good stopping point for any projects you’re working on
Chances are you’ll never be able to finish everything you have on your to-do list.
For projects with upcoming deadlines though, or those where the client is waiting on an update, prioritize completing what you can.
Whether that’s finalizing a task, finishing and delivering an entire project, or finding a good stopping point and communicating your progress to those involved, you’ll have much greater peace of mind if you close as many loops as possible before you sign-off.
Delegate and hand-off tasks and communication
For projects you’ve recently delivered, or those that are ongoing, consider delegating tasks and/ or communication to a team member or employee.
While this isn’t always possible depending on the size of your company, having a point-of-contact for clients or customers can greatly enhance their experience working with you.
That is, of course, as long as the person you hand-off work to is knowledgeable about the project, and can answer any questions that might arise.
Consider creating a document you can share with your team that outlines projects you currently have on-the-go, the project status, appropriate client / customer information, and questions that might arise with answers they can share.
If delegating isn’t an option, do your best to provide clients and customers with as much information as possible to ease their mind before you leave.
That includes the current status of their account, when you expect the work to be completed, and how to reach you in case of an emergency.
Marketing your business while you’re away
While you as an individual might be on vacation, ideally you want your business to be able to stand alone as a separate entity, and run smoothly even while you’re away.
Consider,
What level of marketing activity do you plan to have (no change, reduced, or no availability)?
Do you have content planned out for the time you’re away? Social media posts, emails, and ads can all be scheduled to allow you to continue to nurture your audience while you’re offline.
Are there any automated activities that you need to pause or monitor? Are there automations you need to set-up to streamline processes?
Do you need to block off time in your consultation call and/ or onboarding calendars to coincide with your vacation?
Does anything need to be temporarily removed from or added to your website for the period you’re away?
Deal with the admin tasks so things run smoothly
In the days before you leave, there are a number of admin tasks you can prioritize to allow your business to run smoothly.
That includes focusing on moving forward or completing your highest priority items, and sending final communications to your clients, team and other collaborators to remind them that you’ll be away and inform them of your availability, as well as provide updates on any work-in-progress, so everyone is in the know.
It also means finalizing everything you need to with your chosen alternate contact so they know how to best respond to inquiries while you’re away, and delegating anything final you can to others, so nothing slips through the cracks.
Another great practice to employ is to make a “when I’m back” list of things to focus on when you return home that you either didn’t have time to complete before-hand or that you just don’t want to forget.
Final preparation might look like cleaning your physical desk space, organizing your digital space (cleaning up your desktop and inbox), sending out invoices or reminders for outstanding receivables, and paying any invoices that have come in before you take time off.
At this point, you should be ready to set-up your automatic out-of-office email and voicemail message(s), letting people know that you’re away, when you’ll be returning, how to contact you in an emergency, and who they can reach out to in the meantime.
Packing up and notifications
Once your business preparation is done, it’s time to pack up. Consider what you want to bring in order to give yourself more peace of mind.
Should you pack your laptop or will your phone suffice for emergency requests? What chargers do you need? Will you have data or do you need to purchase a roaming package?
In terms of notifications and workflows, this goes back to your boundaries and vacation expectations.
Can you forward your work email to your personal for the time being? Do you want to? Or, do you want to turn off your email notifications altogether and set specific times to check-in?
Remind yourself of your intentions for your vacation, recommitting to your reasoning for taking this time off so you can maintain a healthy balance of life and work.
Your vacation prep checklist
Plan and book your vacation
Put the dates in your calendar and block the time off
Share the calendar invite with any other colleagues or calendars that need to be in the know
Add a note about your time away to your email signature for people who need to know
Give your clients, team, and/ or customers (those who need to know), at least 2 weeks notice of your time off
Set expectations as to when you will be returning, how accessible you will be during your vacation, and how to reach out in an emergency
Focus on moving forward/completing highest priority items, getting ongoing projects to a good stopping point
Decide what level of marketing activity you plan to have (no change, reduced, or no availability).
Plan out content for the time you’re away
Social media posts
Emails
Ads
Website
Pause any automated activities that you need to pause
Set-up any automations you need to streamline processes
Communicate project statuses to clients and team members
Assign an alternate contact for those to reach out to if they need support
Send an additional email to clients and other collaborators leading up to your vacation, reminding them that you’ll be away and letting them know your availability as well as updates on works-in-progress
Delegate anything you can to others
Make a “when I’m back list” to focus on day one after time away
Set your out-of-office message
Set your voicemail message
Clean and organize your physical workspace before you clock out
Clean and organize your digital desktop, and inbox
Send out invoices or reminders for outstanding receivables
Pay any invoices that have come in before you take time off
Make a packing list of what you need to take with you based on what you can do while away
Forward your emails and /or voicemail, where applicable and desired
Modify your notification settings where applicable and desired
Download this planning worksheet and make sure you don’t miss any little details before, during or after your time away!