Is Unplugging From Technology While on Vacation a Good Idea?

Vacations are an important part of maintaining one’s sanity, especially if you’re an agency owner. However, unless you have a reliable staff that can handle the management of your business, chances are you might feel you can’t get away from the office long enough to relax. While it might seem tempting to disconnect yourself from the office entirely while on vacation, it’s actually better for your business if you don’t.

What if your employees encounter a major issue that only you can resolve, but they have no way to contact you while you’re away? If this happens, progress can be hindered and you’ll come back facing one fire after another. This is why completely disconnecting from the office can be a bad idea. In order to keep your business healthy and functioning, even while you’re out of the office on vacation, consider using these strategies to stay connected to your team.

• Check your email once a day. It’s easy to check your email when you’re in the office. You might have a tab with your email open all day. However, while you’re on vacation, this could mean sitting on the beach with your smartphone. If you want to fully enjoy your vacation, you should limit yourself to checking email once a day, and only respond to immediate and important inquiries. Not everything is a priority, and you should be able to determine the immediacy of a task or request. Plus, by dealing with these issues without allowing them to pile up, you make your return to the office easier.
• Set boundaries for your availability. If you’re concerned about your employees bugging you while you’re on vacation, make sure that they know when you’re available. You should try to limit yourself as much as possible (considering you’re still on vacation); perhaps an hour in the morning or afternoon would be best. You can use this time to check in with the office and ensure that operations are proceeding forward as intended. You can then get back to enjoying your vacation.
• Establish a clear chain of command in your absence. Leadership is an important part of being a business owner, so it’s your responsibility to make sure your employees have someone to look to in your absence. In fact, having a clear chain of command even while you’re in the office can be a great benefit. This helps your team stay organized, and can make the delegation of issues and responsibilities easier in the long run. If you have someone you can rely on to handle any issues that surface while you’re away, your vacation will be that much sweeter.

By using these three tips to your advantage, your business will be in much better shape while you’re away on vacation. You can enjoy your time off, without worrying about whether you'll be opening Pandora's Box when you return to the office. For more great tips and tricks, be sure to subscribe to SMART Services’s blog.

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