Summer holidays are coming: organize yourself and keep your business going even while you're away from the office
Working in a company is not easy and, as much as we are passionate about our job, the sense of responsibility that comes from it can often causes stress and concern. That's why it's very important to take time for ourselves, recharge our batteries and get back in shape.
Now that we are in the middle of summer, many workers are taking advantage of the benefits that this fine season offers to body and mind to plan their holidays.
Before leaving our work commitments, however, it is also important to get organized so that the activities are not completely interrupted while you are away and, above all, so that you can leave your workplace with no worries, without having the anxiety of having left work behind.
This is why, before leaving, you should make a plan for your absence from the office. But what are the main activities to plan at this stage? Of course, these depend on the business of your company; in this article we will see the most common and, from our point of view, the most relevant ones.
Take stock of the situation
The first useful thing to do before leaving the office (or home, for those who work remotely) is to draw up a list of the activities you still have not finished and those already completed. Take at least a week to summarize all your tasks, coordinate with your colleagues, and most importantly, give you time to complete any unfinished activity.
Drawing up a list will give you a clear picture of what remains to be done and keep track of your commitments, and then leave without worrying that you haven't done something.
Schedule emails
Luckily, automation exists! If customers usually come to you for information requests or project management, please let them know that you will not be there for a while and they may eventually rely on a colleague that replaces you. You can then set up an automatic response during the days off that signals precisely when you are not at work, if you plan to manage at least the most important emails remotely or delegate everything to another person (in this case remember to indicate the colleague's contact details) and when customers can talk to you again.
Send an alert newsletter
If the entire company is closed, it is necessary to inform the customer that for a certain period of time that service will not be offered. Newsletters can help in this regard. In fact, you could plan a generic newsletter, informing the customer of the period during which the company will be closed.
We remind you that on Mail Marketing you can find many templates to choose from for your communication (or you can also create your own template for your personalized message). That's not all! You can also schedule the mailings, so you could create the message in advance but send it some days later.
Post a post-announcement on social media
The same thing that applies to newsletters can also apply to social media. If the company will be closed for a while, we need to make this clear to the customers. That's why it's a good idea to publish a social post specifying closing dates and reassuring your followers that you'll soon be back on base, more enthusiastic than ever.
Since users may also contact you via chat, you should also set up an automatic response to inform them that they may not have an answer at that time but will have one as soon as the company reopens.
Schedule blog posts
Just because you go on vacation doesn't mean that nothing can be done while you're away from the office. If you plan your work in advance, some of it can still be done in our absence.
For example, blog posts. The editorial plan does not necessarily go on vacation with employees! Usually summer holidays are planned quite in advance, so you could write new articles and schedule them in order to be published during the break. This is important especially if you write a weekly column, that has become a fixed appointment, and your contacts expect to read your updates frequently. What will make the difference in these cases will be the planning, but not only for the blog.
Set the ADV online
If we've already activated an ADV campaign on Facebook Ads that works well, why deactivate it in view of the fact that we won't be at the office? Fortunately, once we have set our goal, defined the target and generated a creativity, adv campaigns can proceed autonomously. Before the holidays, just check which of the active ones are worth pursuing and which are not performing well and it is therefore preferable to deactivate.
If you run an ecommerce you should also take retargeting campaigns into account! You know, the online world never sleeps, so it is very likely that while you are away users will visit your site and add products to your shopping cart without completing the purchase. Setting up retargeting campaigns on Facebook will capture the attention of those who were interested in your catalog, and will induce them to return to the site to buy the product(s). In this way you will take advantage of a golden opportunity to attract new customers to your brand.
Once you've set up and planned all your activities, all you have to do is pack your bags and leave in holiday!
Since, as often happens, the best ideas come when you are relaxed and your mind is free from work commitments, bring with you a notebook where you can write down ideas and reflections that may come up while you are away from the office.
Ideas that you can then concretize and share with colleagues once you return to the office, so that going back to your everyday life won't be traumatic but, on the contrary, full of energy and new stimuli for the following months.
