Month: June 2025

If you’ve got a lovely summer holiday coming up, you know it’s your chance to switch off completely and restore yourself after months of hard work. But for you to get the most out of your holiday, you’ll need to know your business is in safe hands while you’re away. In this blog, we look at how to do a holiday handover to reduce stress before and after your break. 

What should you hand over?

Of course, there will be some things that only you can do, like nurturing a client relationship built on a personal touch, or financial responsibilities where you’re a named signatory.  

However, there are plenty of other responsibilities that others can pick up on your behalf. True, the other person won’t do it in exactly the way that you do, but they will keep things ticking over so you don’t have a double workload to come back to. These tasks include:

How to do a holiday handover – what should I consider?
See it as an investment in your business

    Handing over your work before your holiday creates a great opportunity for someone else in your organisation to take on more responsibility and gain more skills. Keep your handover positive – remember, it’s an investment in both your wellbeing and the growth of your business.

    Don’t rush it

    Making time for your handover should make your pre-holiday work week less stressful. It should also mean you don’t have to send last-minute instructions from the airport. 

    Delegate to the right person

    Pick someone whom you trust – this can be more important than their experience.  Choose someone with good judgement who will know when to take the initiative and know when to ask for advice. 

    Keep it simple! 

    You are probably only going away for one or two weeks, so the person you hand over to doesn’t need overly detailed instructions. In fact, if you make the handover too detailed, you risk overwhelming the other person so they can’t do their best work. 

    Make it a two-way process

    Find out what the other person’s knowledge gaps are and focus on filling them. If there’s a process they don’t understand, this is the time to explain it to them. Let them ask questions. Try not to be critical if they ask you something you thought they already knew!

    Can I outsource my work while I’m on holiday?

    Yes! You might be surprised at just what you can outsource. For example, you probably know you can outsource back-office tasks like admin, payroll, marketing and diary management. But did you know you can also outsource your core work? 

    For example, if you run a creative agency, you can outsource design, branding and marketing to Get Ahead. Or if you offer HR or recruitment, you can outsource some of your processes to our team of experts. Your clients will receive a seamless service and you get the full benefit of your holiday into the bargain. 

    You can also outsource to a team of experts. We can assemble a team to cover whatever you need, whether you need email management and graphic design, or social media and business development.

    Explore our site to find out more, follow us on social media, or get in touch for an informal chat. 

    There are always lots of things to do at work before taking a holiday, particularly if you run your own business. Fortunately, when we know what they are and we manage our time well, we don’t have to bookend our holiday with two stressful weeks. 

    We’ve caught up with virtual PA Amanda who shares her list of things to do at work before taking a holiday.

    What should we do at work before going on holiday?

    Tell people

    Amanda: If you do nothing else, tell the people you work with that you are going away and when. Even if you own the business and you don’t have to apply for annual leave, it’s a good idea and common courtesy. Telling others means that they can manage their work accordingly, whether that’s asking you about matters now before you go on holiday, or taking the initiative so they don’t interrupt your break. Let anyone outside your business whom you’re collaborating with know too. 

    Set up email management

     Amanda: We’re all used to out-of-office replies now – they’re a very handy invention. If you’re in danger of forgetting to set yours, write it now and schedule it for your holiday period. 

    While you’re automating emails, take the opportunity to set up the “focused” and “other” inbox system that Outlook provides (if you haven’t already). This can make things smoother when you’re back from your holiday – the messages that need your attention should be easy to find.

    Some of my clients ask me to manage their inboxes while they’re on holiday – it’s a great solution. I create folders for different types of email and I can even field them out to others in your organisation. You won’t come back to thousands of emails and you will be able to pick up where you left off. 

    Test your automation

    Amanda: If you’re going to use, say, social media scheduling software to cover you while you’re away, test it out first. If you trial it while you’re still in the office, you’ll have time to iron out any wrinkles so the system runs perfectly in your absence. 

    Write a to-do list for your return

    Amanda: Writing things down is a great way to get them out of your head, even if you can’t deal with them immediately. I always encourage my clients to write their to-do list for their first day back. Not only does it mean a more organised return, but it gives them more freedom to enjoy their holiday!

    Plan for core work and big projects

    Amanda: How you cover bigger projects depends on many factors. However, it’s important to remember that everything won’t grind to a halt without you. You might choose to put work on hold while you’re on holiday. Or you might choose to set it up in advance so it can run well in your absence.

     If you’re a good employer or collaborator (and I’m sure you are!) your team should feel empowered to carry on without you and act on their own initiative. Maybe the team could use your holiday time to address the areas that don’t need your specific input, like the actual printing of a new publication. Or maybe you could set up a task in your last week and they could use your holiday to put it into action. 

    Virtual PA services from Get Ahead

    Get Ahead has built up a team of nearly a hundred virtual PAs, VAs and sector experts to support your business while you’re away on holiday. We’re here for when you get back too! Follow us on social media to find out how we work, and get in touch whenever you’re ready.