1 00:00:03,480 --> 00:00:09,560 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning, 2 00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:17,000 Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's 3 00:00:17,079 --> 00:00:22,920 Speaker 1: tip is to ask about your colleague's vacation schedules. There 4 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:25,799 Speaker 1: is no reason to be surprised by planed time off. 5 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:30,960 Speaker 1: Smart teams build it into their timelines so they can 6 00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:36,360 Speaker 1: stay on track. It is basically summer as this is airing, 7 00:00:37,200 --> 00:00:39,680 Speaker 1: which means that lots of people will plan to take 8 00:00:39,760 --> 00:00:43,440 Speaker 1: some vacation days over the next few months. And that 9 00:00:43,560 --> 00:00:46,839 Speaker 1: is great. But while we think a lot about our 10 00:00:46,960 --> 00:00:49,880 Speaker 1: own vacation schedules, we might not be quite so well 11 00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:55,880 Speaker 1: rehearsed with everyone else's plan time off colleagues, clients, and 12 00:00:55,960 --> 00:01:00,280 Speaker 1: so forth. That can lead to delays or sometimes to 13 00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:05,280 Speaker 1: work being done on timelines that don't make sense. For instance, 14 00:01:05,319 --> 00:01:08,760 Speaker 1: you might agree to a tight deadline not realizing that 15 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:11,600 Speaker 1: a key team member will be gone for half of 16 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:15,400 Speaker 1: the intervening days. Or you might plan to get something 17 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:18,040 Speaker 1: to a client's on the friday before it turns out 18 00:01:18,280 --> 00:01:22,120 Speaker 1: he's going on vacation, not realizing that there is no 19 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:25,760 Speaker 1: way he'll be looking at it for another week, so 20 00:01:25,880 --> 00:01:29,720 Speaker 1: you didn't have to rush quite so much better to 21 00:01:29,760 --> 00:01:33,920 Speaker 1: be proactive, there are a couple of approaches you could take. 22 00:01:34,319 --> 00:01:36,600 Speaker 1: The first is that as you are planning out any 23 00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:40,280 Speaker 1: long term project, you bring up time off as you 24 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:44,319 Speaker 1: are creating the timeline. As in Nelly, it looks like 25 00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:47,000 Speaker 1: I'll be giving you the draft slides by June fourteenth, 26 00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:51,040 Speaker 1: given your planned time off, does that timing still work 27 00:01:51,080 --> 00:01:53,240 Speaker 1: for you to get the slides to the graphic designer 28 00:01:53,800 --> 00:01:56,240 Speaker 1: before everyone is out of the office for the holiday 29 00:01:56,280 --> 00:02:00,440 Speaker 1: starting July third. Now you might think that people would 30 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:03,320 Speaker 1: naturally think about what other commitments they have during a 31 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:07,880 Speaker 1: project timeline, but my own experience and what listeners tell 32 00:02:07,960 --> 00:02:13,480 Speaker 1: me suggests they may not. People sometimes think, oh, that 33 00:02:13,600 --> 00:02:17,680 Speaker 1: deadline is four weeks away, this project is definitely doable 34 00:02:17,680 --> 00:02:21,160 Speaker 1: in four weeks, without taking into account that they will 35 00:02:21,200 --> 00:02:24,240 Speaker 1: be out of town one of those weeks and working 36 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:26,919 Speaker 1: remotely another week while their kids are in between school 37 00:02:26,960 --> 00:02:32,040 Speaker 1: and camp. By explicitly connecting timelines or deadlines to plan 38 00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:38,440 Speaker 1: time off, you can avoid surprises. Another approach to communicating 39 00:02:38,480 --> 00:02:41,240 Speaker 1: about time off is to routinely check with colleagues and 40 00:02:41,280 --> 00:02:44,840 Speaker 1: clients about their vacation days, not just in relation to 41 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:50,480 Speaker 1: specific deadlines. At meetings, ask about plan time off and 42 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:54,000 Speaker 1: put that information into your meeting notes. This is a 43 00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:56,920 Speaker 1: good routine all year long, and even more important around 44 00:02:56,919 --> 00:03:00,200 Speaker 1: the summer and winter holidays. You can simply ask ask 45 00:03:00,760 --> 00:03:02,720 Speaker 1: any upcoming time off we need to be aware of 46 00:03:02,919 --> 00:03:05,960 Speaker 1: at the end of each meeting, then include a list 47 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:08,120 Speaker 1: of plan time off in the meeting notes and the 48 00:03:08,120 --> 00:03:11,880 Speaker 1: agenda for the next meeting. This doesn't need to be elaborate, 49 00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:14,280 Speaker 1: just the heading plan time off and the name of 50 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:16,040 Speaker 1: each team member with the dates they'll be out of 51 00:03:16,080 --> 00:03:20,000 Speaker 1: the office. By documenting the time off, you create an 52 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:25,120 Speaker 1: easy reference for everybody. You also gently reinforce the norm 53 00:03:25,919 --> 00:03:30,000 Speaker 1: that you have a responsibility to communicate with colleagues about 54 00:03:30,040 --> 00:03:35,040 Speaker 1: plan time off well in advance. Time off is a 55 00:03:35,080 --> 00:03:38,920 Speaker 1: good thing. We just need to communicate it and plan 56 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:43,040 Speaker 1: for it so we can meet deadlines and avoid delays 57 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:48,560 Speaker 1: in frustration. By asking about colleagues vacation schedules, you can 58 00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:55,000 Speaker 1: increase the chances that everyone stays on track in the meantime. 59 00:03:56,160 --> 00:04:00,920 Speaker 1: This is Laura, Thanks for listening. Here's to making the 60 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:11,160 Speaker 1: most of our time. Thanks for listening to before breakfast. 61 00:04:11,720 --> 00:04:15,480 Speaker 1: If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach 62 00:04:15,560 --> 00:04:25,200 Speaker 1: me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast 63 00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:29,520 Speaker 1: is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, 64 00:04:29,600 --> 00:04:33,640 Speaker 1: please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 65 00:04:33,680 --> 00:04:34,920 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.