Summer Vacation Plans?

Posted by Kelly Nichols on Mar 16, 2016 4:15 PM


The first day of spring is March 19th, which means warmer weather and enjoying the outdoors again.  This also means your employees will start going on vacations. Whether they’re for spring break, graduations, or further into summer, it won’t be until August that you see your staff on a regular basis when school starts again.

The reason I share this is that with most companies, supporting your EDI is a 24 hour job.  When your Fotolia_66222042_XS.jpgstaff is on vacation, the slack needs picked up in the office. Worst case scenario is if you have a staff member get sick while the others are on vacation.  Usually in this situation the manager is stepping in to help out the team, but then who is doing the manager’s work?  What if you have a staff member leave for another opportunity?  How is that void filled?

According to an article I read on CIO.com, 67% of senior IT professionals are expected to be available during their vacation (study by TEKsystems).  As an IT professional, I am sure you've been in this position.  It seems like all of us do some work on vacation in order to reduce the amount of work on our desk when we return.  But who really wants to work on vacation?  

Here are a few tips to help ease the pain when you need to fill that void:

  1. Set priorities: One person is fulfilling the job of two so some tasks will need to be put on the back burner.
  2. Out of Office Messages:  Make sure the message is coordinated.  If you're referring work to a teammate, make sure they are expecting the extra correspondence.
  3. Document:  Put together a list or notes on your daily activities or problems that may arise and how to solve them.
  4. Cancel Meetings:  Cancel meetings that aren't 100% necessary and follow up with individuals and/or teams when you return.
  5. Plan:  Meet with co workers a week or two before your vacation to discuss what they will need to handle in your absence.  Allow them time to review the documentation you've put together in case they have any questions.
Sometimes even the best laid plans end up with a wrinkle and that's where we can help.  We have a number of clients that rely on REMEDI Electronic Commerce Group to fill in during vacations, maternity leave, holidays, etc.  Our staff works with companies that have only one EDI resource and we work with enterprise environments as well.  REMEDI is able to step in to fill that void to keep your environment up and running and at the same time keeping the managers productive with their responsibilities.  So don't work during your next vacation, enjoy your well deserved time off.  After all, you'll be prepared whether your coworker is filling the void or REMEDI is.  

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