Prepping for Time Off
This is basically an extended P.S.A. to not be a total d*** by taking off for PTO without giving a s*** about your coworkers or projects.
If you don’t give a s*** about prepping for PTO and all hell breaks loose while you’re gone… One. How do you think that makes you look? Two. I will put a curse on you that makes you stub your toe every day of your life.
Finish things BEFORE you leave. Why should anyone be tasked with picking up after you? Get your s*** together before you go on vacation. Note that if it’s really impossible to finish things off before you leave, the least you can do is fully prep and coordinate with your coworkers to make sure things go smoothly while you’re gone.
Notify and check-in. If you’re collaborating or coordinating on a task or project, you need to notify people well in advance that you will be taking PTO so they can plan accordingly. Additionally, I think it’s nice to check in a week or two before you leave to ask people for last minute requests. It can serve as a reminder of your limited availability and minimizes the potential for your project to get held up because you’re not in the office.
Always keep your files organized. This applies to both your paper files and server files. People should be able to easily find what they need while you’re out (and frankly, they should be able to do this when you’re in the office too). People should not have to navigate an intricate labyrinth or hack onto your desktop to find the data they need while you’re stuffing your face with street food.
Set up call fwd’ing and email away. Pretty much self explanatory. Make sure people trying to contact you get redirected to the right people in case of a time-sensitive emergency. (Hot Tip: In outlook, you can set different away messages for internal and external contacts. This give you the option of providing more details of your availability to your coworkers if needed. e.g. how often you’ll check in, your temporary time-zone, etc.)
Set an expectation for availability. Are you going to be camping in the backcountry with no wifi? Are you going to be checking emails in the mornings or evenings? Can people reach you by phone or text in an emergency? What would you qualify as an emergency? Make sure the expectations are clear to your teams before you leave so they can prepare accordingly and so that you don’t get needlessly bothered while drinking a Mai Tai on the beach.