The first thing to understand and tell your mind is that taking a vacation will not harm your business in any way. In this era of technological advancements, anything can be controlled remotely.
Today’s world is not the same as it was 50 years back. With the advent of technology, physical distances are bridged, and the whole world has transformed into a global village. Everyone's connected to one another in terms of interaction, business, and communication. Although this has brought numerous advantages in all fields but at the same time, the level of competition and stakes have risen to the highest level.
Everyone is in competition with the other, and the one who is not keeping up with the rapid changes in technology and tools of the trade is being beaten without mercy. This is the reason why conducting business is more difficult than ever before, especially for smaller businesses. The vacations and break that were a norm before is the last thing on anyone's plate because of the stakes involved with your absence with regard to your business.
Benefits of taking a vacation
Taking a holiday vacation is as important as conducting your routine business. Not only do vacations enhance your overall business performance but result in numerous advantages like:
• A fresh state of mind and perspective to tackle business problems.
• An essential break from business stress, both physically and mentally.
• A chance to overall increase the confidence level of your employees.
• Leading to better relationships throughout the business hierarchy not only limited to employees but with clients as well.
Conducting your business on vacation
The first thing to understand and tell your mind is that taking a vacation will not harm your business in any way. In this era of technological advancements, anything can be controlled remotely. Physical presence is no longer required at any level to make decisions. Preparing your mind in accepting this fact will help you get rid of the vacation anxiety. Tell yourself continually that your absence will not affect your office, but to make sure of it, follow these tips for working while you travel.
Leave someone in charge
Before planning a vacation, it is essential to have a substitute person to take control of things while you are away. This does not mean to give someone all the authority and administrative powers but to have someone you can trust who can step in and be there for conflicts and decisions which require physical presence.
To fulfill this requirement, it is always better to train your managers well in hand. A good leader is someone who can bring the best out of his employees. Trusting your second-in-command will only boost up his confidence level and make him work to the best of his potential, knowing that you have placed his trust on him and have made him responsible for the company. Discuss all the routine and unexpected problems that might arise for the duration of your vacation. Prepare him for any discrepancies.
Prepare your organization in advance
2-3 weeks prior to your vacation, convey your holiday plans to your employees. Last-minute decisions lead to too many problems and issues in most cases. Communicating your decision, along with your expectations from your business team well in advance, will give time to your employees to think for themselves what problems may occur in your absence, and they will themselves plan how to tackle them with your guidance.
Tell your team how much communication and information you desire while you are away and what authorities you are willing to delegate in your absence. This will make them confident in all their dealings while you take that much-needed time off.
Let vacation be a vacation
Most of the time, when someone doesn't plan properly, they end up thinking about their business all the time on the vacations. They hook on their mobile phones and laptops, which clearly cancels the whole reason to take a vacation in the first place. Set your schedule. Plan your timing of using your smartphone only 1-2 hours a day. A vacation should be treated as a break, not as a work from home situation.
Use web-tools for communication
To keep in touch with the business and updated information, do use the technology but within the time limit, you defined for yourself. One can always have a google hangout conference once a day with the managers. The person you left in charge can fill you up with the important highlights of the day using the available business software. And if you so desire to stay on top of everything happening in the organization, you can reach out to a business phone service like Nextiva to help you set up a VoIP system before leaving. That way, you’ll be able to initiate video or conference calls with employees and also route calls from clients directly to your cellar.
Plan for contingencies
Lastly, even amidst all planning beforehand, always leave room for uncertainties. They arise when least expected. It’s the best approach to always note down what is the worst that could happen when you are away and note down the possible solutions for it. Leave clear instructions for every employee and then enjoy your vacations!
