Newly Corporate

It’s that time of year when the busy cube farms grow silent– ’tis the season for holiday vacation!

Assuming you are not part of the finance world, many people from your office may be taking vacation between now and the beginning of the year.  That could mean you are planning on “peacing out” for a few days with the masses or it could mean you are handling the office slack while people with more vacation or seniority are picking out which Holiday Sweater they are going to wear during this year’s family gift exchange.

Going on vacation?  Here are some ways to prepare!

Communicate your time  off in advance. If you are taking an extended vacation, tell your managers, co-workers and contacts ahead of time when you will be out of the office.  This will ensure that any pressing issues are addressed before it’s too late to deal with them.  Colleagues will respect you more for communicating with them in advance instead of them finding out you are out of the office from your auto reply email address.

Prepare your out of office reply in advance. A best practice is to put up your out of office message a couple of hours or a day before you will be gone.  This gives notice to people that you are unavailable but still gives you time to deal with the last minute needs that could come in.  Check with a co-worker to see if you can place their name and contact information in the auto-reply.  The world doesn’t have to stop because you are on vacation.

Change your voicemail to say you are away from the office. Change your voicemail message to tell callers when you will return to the office.

Clean up your office area. Clean up your desk, office or cubicle before you leave for an extended period of time.  Your co-workers don’t want to look at your mess and it will be nice to return to a clean desk.  Don’t forget to clean your items out of the group refrigerator.  No one wants to smell any funky things you left behind.

Holding the fort down but want to make the most of it?  Here’s a tip!

Host an office pot luck lunch. Did the tough economy kill your office Christmas party?  Through your own with no cost to the company.  Organize a pot luck where everyone brings in a dish to share.  Hold the post luck over the lunch hour or maybe over two hours so people can stroll in at their convenience.

What are you doing to prepare for holiday vacation?  Are you going to take time office or work?

Photocredit: Jennifer K. Robinson