Whether you plan to be out for a day, a week or the entire month of December, your absence can have an impact on those left behind. Here are 6 simple steps you can take to make life a bit more pleasant for those who have already used up their vacation. Remember, your vacation days might not roll over, but brownie points scored with coworkers last forever!

1. Set your email out of office message. Most modern email programs offer an out-of-office (OOF) functionality that will automatically send a response to incoming email. If you are not sure where to find the OOF function in your email, search for “out of office” in your email program’s help functionality. (Look for a Question mark if using the latest version of Outlook.) Your OOF message does not need to be a documentary about your vacation; just include the key information:

• Friendly greeting
• Dates you will be gone
• Why you are out (vacation time)
• Day/date you will return and answer mail
• Who to contact in your absence (if anyone)

For example:

Thank you for your mail. I am out Dec 1, 2010 for a vacation day. I will be back in the office on Thursday, Dec 2. If you need urgent assistance, please contact Dave Kramer (email @ writersbloc.net). Thank you.

2.  Update your outgoing phone message. Yes, some people still use the phone – and will continue to call until you answer or return their call. You can adapt your email message for an outgoing phone message script. Key information for your phone message includes:

• Friendly greeting
• Dates you will be gone
• Why you are out (vacation time)
• Day/date you will return and answer mail
• Who to contact in your absence (if anyone)
• How to contact them (for example, dial zero for the operator or hang up and call their direct line)
• The phone extension or phone number for the coworker covering in your absence.

For example:

Hello, this is Jacqui Kramer, owner of The Writer’s Bloc. I am out Dec 1, 2010 for a vacation day. I will be back in the office on Thursday, Dec 2. If you need urgent assistance, please dial zero and ask the operator to connect you with Dave Kramer at extension 425. Thank you.

Also, turn your phone ringer off before you leave – especially if you are in an open environment. Nothing drives coworkers crazy faster than an unanswered phone.

3. Make a note of all key passwords (or reminders). If you’re going away for several weeks, consider making a note of your passwords – or clues to your passwords – somewhere safe. I once took a three-week vacation, secure in the idea I couldn’t possibly forget my passwords in less than a month. I did. My first morning back was spent with a tech support person, who eventually cracked my computer.

4. Set expectations with your clients/customers. Always let your clients know about planned absences ahead of time, even if they are just a day. For more information about setting expectations, see I’m not there: Five ways to check in when you’re checked out (for vacation) .

5. Set expectations with coworkers. I have received a number of calls over the years that began with “(name of coworker) said you’re covering (name of project) while he/she’s out…” A surprising number of these have come out of the blue – because the vacationing coworker didn’t mention that I was on point while he/she was out. The worst was a phone message I received while I was out on vacation myself… because the coworker hadn’t checked to see if I would be around that week. Needless to say, the caller was not amused by the daisy-chained out-of-office messages.

That’s certainly a candidate for worst-case scenario, but it can get worse. I once got the call about a project that had not been made public. It’s a bit difficult to answer questions or provide assistance about a project you didn’t know existed.

Don’t put your coworkers in that position. They will not be happy, and you will both look bad in the eyes of the client/coworker in need of assistance. Contact your designated contact and ask them for help at least a few days before you leave – and take time to debrief them. Leave written notes outlining where to find information (document folders, forwarded emails, etc.) and set expectations regarding what they should – or should not – do while you’re away.

6. Remember your coworkers while you’re gone. The last thing you want to think about on vacation is work – but it never hurts to spend a few moments considering your coworkers. I once worked on a team of about 12 people, all working to launch a major project in the last few weeks of December. Needless to say, there were not many vacation requests being granted. One coworker had already been cleared to take three weeks off in December for her wedding/honeymoon (scheduled long before the project).

We didn’t begrudge her leaving, but we definitely felt the loss of a key person in those final weeks. The project launched, and everyone on the team received a lovely congratulatory email from halfway around the world where she was vacationing! When she returned, she brought a bag full of small trinkets (keychain and magnets) from her vacation. Everyone received a small gift, and the person who took on her extra work received an extra nice gift on the side.

The small gestures – the email, a bag of trinkets most likely bought at the airport – meant a lot to a group of coworkers who didn’t spend December in a tropical paradise. It was by no means necessary, but it did rack up a lot of good karma points with the team. She also happily covered for many on the team when it was time for others to take their own vacations – an extra bonus that didn’t cost her anything, but certainly earned a lot of good will.

Oh, and nearly a decade later, I still have that keychain.

1. Identify a time to check-in – and stick to it. Choose a time when you can devote 15 – 30 minutes to checking in with your business without disrupting your family time or down time. For example, if you’re the first one out of bed, get a cup of coffee and read/respond to the mail. If you plan to sleep in, consider setting aside 15 – 30 minutes after you have wrapped up your evening and the kids are in bed.
2. Set expectations early… and often. Let coworkers, clients and other business contacts know your vacation dates well in advance. If you have a weekly check-in mail with a client or manager, add “On vacation the week of – to –” as a miscellaneous line-item. 1-2 weeks before your vacation, tell your client/coworkers verbally that you will be gone and not available by phone. Let them know that you will be checking working mail once daily, either in the morning or evening – and that you will not be available by phone.
3. Don’t be too accessible. Let technology do the heavy lifting for you. If a business call does come in, resist the temptation to step away and answer it. Let it go to voice mail, and plan to check it as part of your daily work review. Stay out of work mail during the day as well. This is your vacation, and you do need to recharge. Also, there is nothing relaxing about an impromptu argument with an annoyed family member.
4. Leave the files at home. If possible, leave your laptop – and definitely any actual folders or files – at home. This will help you resist the urge to do just a little work. Also, you can’t forget important documents at the hotel if you don’t have them. Whatever it is can wait.
5. Make a commitment to yourself. It is easy to say you are going to relax and enjoy your vacation – but only you can truly do it. Make a commitment to yourself that you will not check email or jump when a client calls, and follow through with it. It may be tough the first day or so, but you and your family will appreciate it.

We take so little time for ourselves these days that it’s difficult to remember a time when we could truly relax. You don’t have to take the radical approach of locking every piece of technology in the hotel safe to force yourself to untether and reconnect with your family – you just have to make a commitment, form a plan and follow through. Practice over the holidays and a few long weekends, and by next summer, you’ll be ready to take on vacation with a whole new perspective.

1. Don’t create eye charts. The goal of your presentation should not be to test your audience’s eyesight – yet that is a common issue in PowerPoint presentations. Five to six top-level bullet points, plus a header, is plenty for one slide. If you are including illustrations, think three to four bullets. Better to have multiple slides covering the same topic than to have a slide no one in the audience can read. Speaking of which…

2. Let the audience listen. Another common mistake is to use a script to build the slide. Your audience will naturally read whatever is on screen – which means they are not paying attention to you. Pull out the very high-level points you will be touching on for the slide, and leave the details in your script. You want the audience to focus on you, not your slides. 

3. Limit fancy transitions. We’ve all seen the fancy dissolves, flying sentences and spinning text functionality of PowerPoint. Animating the text is a fun way to break up the monotony of writing a presentation, and it can be effective – for the right audience. It can also slow your presentation down, throwing your slides out of sync with your speech. Worse, it distracts the audience. Use the regular slide transition for presentations unless you have something really big to reveal, preferably at the end of your presentation. 

4. Follow a set style guide. Major corporations typically have a style guide, including approved background(s), font style, point size and capitalization rules for presentations. Check with your admin or manager – odds are they will know if such a thing exists. If not, create one for yourself. You will need:

• A neutral slide background. There are a number of standard professional backgrounds available in PowerPoint. If you have a group or corporate “style,” ask if you can hire (or borrow) a design resource to create a template for you.
• A readable font. Choose a professional, readable font. Good starter fonts include Arial, Calibri, Verdana, and Times New Roman. (Note: this holds true whether you are creating a work presentation or one for the PTA. Papyrus is never a good choice for presentations.)
• A set of point sizes. “Point” refers to how large your text appears. You should have a set point size for headers, another for top-level bullets, and a third for secondary bullets. They should be reasonably close in size. For example:
  • Header: 24 point Calibri
  • Top-level bullet: 20 point Calibri
  • Second-level bullet: 18 point Calibri

Keep your style guide close by as you create your PowerPoint. You’ll also need it when you’re done so you can…

5. Check your work – and check it again. Proper spelling, good grammar, a consistent flow and consistent style will lend a professional air to your presentation. Don’t assume you got everything right the first time – everyone makes mistakes, especially when developing long PowerPoint presentations. After you have finished your draft, set it aside for a few hours to clear your head. Then go back and review. Ideally, you should do a pass to review for each specific issue. Realistically, you will review once. So do so carefully, and if possible, ask a friend or colleague to take a look as well. A second pair of eyes is always helpful.

 Here’s what to watch for while you review:

• Proper spelling: Spell Check will catch a lot, but not everything. Keep an eye out for words that are misspelled, AND words that are spelled correctly… but not the word you wanted use.
• Good grammar: Same rule: use Grammar Check as a tool, but don’t rely on it.
• Consistent flow: Don’t jump around topics – finish thoughts and move on. Also, ensure that any fact or comment you reference (”As you saw on a previous slide…) is paid off earlier. In other words, make sure it actually appeared on a previous slide.
• Consistent style: This includes the point/font/template styles mentioned earlier, but also encompasses capitalization (initial caps or sentence caps?), bullet style (square, round, diamond, etc.), font color, and any other visual queue you will use in your presentation.

Follow these five simple rules and your presentation slides will keep the focus where it belongs during your next presentation: on you.

Step 1: Review your professional materials

While we live in a primarily digital world, there are still times when the small business owner needs to pull out a business card, send a paper invoice or pull out the pre-printed address labels or envelopes. Even digital information may represent your identity. Take time to review any existing pre-printed materials now, when printers are slow and have time to take on your project. Check for:

• Design. Does it still represent you and your business? Is your logo dated, or in need of a facelift?
• Accuracy. Has anything changed?
• Content. Think carefully about how you want clients contacting you. If a phone shouldn’t ring at 11 p.m., don’t include that number.

Step 2: Review your shipping services

If you ship regularly, odds are you have an account with your preferred shipping vendor. Now is a good time to review your terms and determine if you have the right service. In this case, there is no downside to playing the field. Some things to consider are:

• Cost. Do you get a discount for being a preferred customer, shipping volume or other factors?
• Delivery range. Again, this really applies to those doing business internationally. If you ship overseas (or even just over the border), review delivery services and fees.
• Niceties. These are really subjective, but make a difference. For example, some shipping agencies will deliver shipping materials to your house and pick up packages free of charge.
• Bonus discounts/points. Some delivery services have cross-over deals with other vendors (e.g., credit cards). Check your loyalty programs, credit cards, etc. and see what they have to offer. It
  might tip the scales in one direction or the other.

Step 3: Review your technology

Your tax advisor probably told you to do this already, but it is worth repeating: take a look at your equipment and determine if it’s time to upgrade. The obvious place to start is with your computer.

• Laptop vs. desktop. For business travelers, the choice is obvious: a laptop that is (preferably) not a brick, has good battery life, a nice screen, and can boot quickly for the inevitable airport security check. For completely home-bound business owners, a desktop might offer a cheaper viable solution. I’m in-between; while I don’t travel for work, I do have to visit clients from time to time. I’ve found a nice, widescreen laptop plus a second monitor at home (two screens total) allows me to multi-task at home and easily take my work with me when I need to go.
• Display screen. Treat your eyes right – get a decent-sized, flat-screen display that is also easy to read. This is one area you don’t want to skimp.
• Shredder. Every business should have a security shredder that creates confetti, not spaghetti strings. Get a heavy-duty workhorse model.
• Backup software and materials. How you backup is up to you – the important thing is to make sure it happens early and often. Consider keeping an off-site copy of key digital documents that will not be affected if disaster strikes.
• Assorted office materials. Notepads, pens, stapler, USB portable keys, etc. If you haven’t stocked up in a while, stop by your local office supply store. Even they are having end-of-year sales.
• A comfortable chair and desk. You’re going to be spending a lot of time there. Be comfortable.
  Remember to save your receipts – you have until December 31 to make purchases against this year’s tax deductions.

Step 4: Get Ready for Tax Time

Speaking of which, now is a great time to start prepping your tax materials. Whether you do it yourself or use a financial advisor, you’re going to need to get organized. Here are some guidelines to help get you started:

• Organize this year’s deductible bills. Find your deductible utility bills, mortgage, etc. and organize by month. Keep a written list of missing bills (type and date) as you go. You can hunt down the strays later – focus on the task at hand now.
• Gather up your tax-deductible donation receipts. Organize by type (cash vs. goods) and organization if you have multiple donations to the same org.
• Organize your receipts. Group them by possible deduction type. Don’t forget to shred any receipts you no longer need!

Remember, by preparing now you can take your time and really review the year. Forgotten house upgrades or missing receipts can cost you tax deductions. Do it now so you have time to do a thorough job.

Part 1: Organizing your office life for a happy New Year
Part 3: Part 3: Spending the end of year improving yourself (but not at the gym)

• Folders
• File cabinet
• Recycle bin/box
• Separate “to shred” box
• USB key or other portable back-up device
• New office decorations

Step 1: Clean out your files

File cabinets are a great place to start any massive purge. Not only are you likely sitting on a ton of paper you don’t need, it makes room for all that paper on your desk we’ll be addressing in the next section. Plus, wouldn’t you like to be able to open your drawer without using a crowbar?

Prep your cabinet area. Position your recycle and shred boxes close, but in distinctly different places. You don’t want to recycle sensitive materials, and shredding unnecessary paper simply costs money.

Review each file. Yes, seriously. Re-read and assign each document as appropriate:

• To keep: materials you need to do your job now.
• To file: materials you need keep, but are not in active use now.
• To shred: sensitive materials you no longer need.
• To recycle: materials you no longer need that are not sensitive. When in doubt, shred.

Return the folders to the cabinet. As you re-file, check the state of the folder. Replace beat-up folders or use labels to clearly-write the folder name. If it’s over-filled, break the materials up into multiple folders. (Or at least get a rubber band.)

Step 2: Clean off the desk

This can be painful for pack rats, but it’s worth it. Here are some guidelines:

Review every piece of paper on your desk. Same rules apply as filing: keep, recycle or shred.

Install and store software. Have software sitting on your desk? Install it, put the disk away, and return it to IT (or store it).

Rearrange your desk for comfort. I spent nearly a year spinning in my chair and leaning to answer my phone before a co-worker made the obvious suggestion: Move the phone to the left. (I’m left handed.) Simple solutions can make a huge difference.

Edit and update your decorations. We constantly add things to our desk, but when was the last time you took something away? Update your kid’s artwork, review your gag gift collection and decide if that plant is really worth it. Can’t part with anything? Ask for shelves.

Step 3: Organize your professional library

I’m always amazed by the number of severely outdated books on office shelves. Unless you truly need to hang on to that HTML 1.0 book, take it off the shelf.

Step 4: Clean up your computer

Now that you have a clean desk, it’s time to update the space where you spend most of your time: the computer. Here are some guidelines to get you started.

Clear out your e-mail. Every interaction, from e-mail to calendar requests, contribute to your e-mail limit and bulge. To control the chaos, create folders (by business, client, project – your choice), and start filing. Review and delete mails that are redundant, unnecessary (”thanks” mails) or just no longer needed. Note that many major corporations require employees to delete mail after a certain time period. Check with your legal department for guidance.

Tackle your calendar. Delete the dentist appointments, coffee dates, long-dead project meetings and other detritus. Keep ongoing appointments and recent meetings that may come up in future conversations.

Check your Tasks list. This can also become a wasteland of long-forgotten errands that don’t need to sit on the server.

Organize your digital files. All those things you did with your files? Same thing applies here. But before you delete…

Backup! If you work for someone else, odds are they have a backup in place. Self-employed people, you are your IT department. Don’t neglect your back-ups. Do a mass back-up now, and then set regular back-ups going forward. (We’ll dig into this and other tidbits for the self-employed in Part 2 of the series.)

Step 5: Take home personal files

Part 2: Spending the end of year organizing your home office/business
Part 3: Spending the end of year on yourself

I recognize that it’s not easy for everyone to put themselves into their customer’s place, so I developed a little exercise that I think might help. I call it the Lunchbox Method.

Have you ever made a lunch for a child or significant other? There are a number of ways to approach this seemingly simple task.

To meet the requirements of providing a lunch without much thought or effort, you could simply provide money or a debit card to buy whatever he or she wants. This is akin to being the CEO of a company: You decide to fund this “lunch thing” and don’t put any real thought or effort into it except to ensure the money’s there when it’s needed.

Moving beyond simply being a funder, you could assemble a perfunctory meal by grabbing some food from the pantry and/or refrigerator and tossing it in a bag. You’ve met the requirements of a lunch, but did you check to see whether the foods go well together? Are they part of a balanced diet, or will your loved one have a post-lunch sugar tirade followed by a late afternoon crash? Is there enough food to satisfy the recipient’s hunger?

At this level, you’re working as the project manager - trying to write a spec or plan for a healthy, filling lunch. To consider the customer experience, you must go even deeper. So you put together a good lunch – and there’s plenty of it – but does your loved one even like the foods you’re including? Have any of these selections previously met with disapproval at dinner time or returned home in lunch bags past only barely touched? Here you start considering customer data. This is akin to customer experience in that you are starting to focus on other people’s likes and dislikes (and not your own individual preferences and peeves). But you can still go deeper.

Now let’s look at how the food will be consumed. This is the heart of customer experience, because you are actually opening the bag in your mind and imagining how it will be consumed at lunch time. Does the food require a fork or a spoon to consume? Is it messy? If so, add any necessary cutlery and perhaps an extra napkin or two. Are there hot and cold foods included, such as a thermos of soup and a frosty beverage? If so, maybe you need two bags or a lunchbag with separate hot and cold compartments.

Let’s take it a step further. You want to delight your customer, right? (Especially since, in this exercise, it’s someone you personally know and love!) How about a special treat like a favorite homemade snack or even some leftover Easter or Halloween candy and a small personal note. When your family member opens her lunch bag, you want her face to light up – especially if she’s been very good and you’re overdue to reward her for some great behavior or a thoughtful gesture.

Finally, after the day is done, look at the remains to see how much of each food came back (objective data) and ask your customer what they thought (subjective data). Customer focus is not a one-time reality check you conduct at the end of a project, it should be an iterative process that you apply every step of the way. You need to validate your assumptions and course correct when you find you’ve diverged from a particular customer base’s needs.

Keep in mind that your customers’ tastes may change over time, as anyone with a 6-year-old can attest. The same is especially true on the Internet, where likes and dislikes evolve with every passing meme. And naturally, every project is different so consider differences in customer segments, though at the most basic level just thinking about how someone other than you approaches a particular thing is a step in the right direction.

Food for thought, I hope.

• Departure/meeting/return time
• What to bring (laptops? notepads? handouts?)
• Dress code

2. Confirm you have enough room for everyone—and everything—in your vehicle(s). If you have an early morning meeting, do this the day before. If you have an afternoon meeting, check in the morning in case you need to round up another vehicle and/or driver. Keep in mind the number of people riding, but also any materials they are bringing. (Two people might fit fine in your Volkswagen, but the giant display might prove challenging.)

3. Perform a dress-code check. Find a reason to stop by each person’s desk and ensure they are dressed appropriately. In my experience, people who were not dressed for meetings often volunteer that they are going to get dressed before the meeting. In one case, I had a team member who had forgotten about the meeting. Fortunately, he had time to run home and change. Have a sense of humor about it and your team won’t mind.

4. Make sure there is gas in the car(s). An unplanned stop for gas both eats time and adds stress to an already intense situation. You don’t have to fill it up, but do make sure you have enough gas to at least reach your destination without driving on fumes.

5. Give every driver directions. If you have multiple drivers, ensure everyone has directions, the complete address and cell phone numbers for people in the other car(s). Include any information about traffic, parking etc. that you learned in your preparations.

6. Never leave a person behind! Some team members might want to drive themselves, particularly if a meeting is at the end of the day. If someone asks to drive himself, trade cell phone numbers and ensure he leaves at the same time you do. I have made the mistake of leaving someone behind who was going to be “just five minutes”—and ended up returning to pick him up when he discovered his car battery was dead.

Previously:
Better Know Your Client
Prepping Your Team

To help keep your team on track:

1. Set specific deadlines for each person. If a team member is on point for developing materials, set a deadline before the meeting day to review the materials as a team. This gives each person time to provide feedback and revise if necessary. Also, ask each person to review plans or other materials relevant to the project before your deadline.

2. Put time on each person’s schedule to do the work. Book a meeting on each participant’s calendar to study, build their materials and/or prep for the meeting. There is no guarantee that they will use that time, but it is one more tool in your arsenal to help remind them that there is prep work to be done.

3. Pad your timing for the meeting request. Unless you are meeting at your offices, there will be travel time involved. Pad your meeting request by at least a half hour before and after the actual meeting time to ensure your team doesn’t get booked during that time. Include an explanation in both the subject line and the body of the e-mail. For example:

Sample subject line:
Meeting with The Writer’s Bloc – Leave office at 1 p.m., meeting at 2 p.m., back by 4 p.m.

4. Book a pre-meeting meeting. Yes, we all know that meetings about meetings are the definition of insanity. Come with an agenda, including a walkthrough of each person’s materials, meeting etiquette and dress code for the meeting. Be prepared to dismiss early if the team is clearly ready to go or needs the extra time to work on meeting-related materials. No one will mind getting back “free” time on their calendar.

Previously: Better Know Your Client
Next time: Final Prep

First impressions do matter—especially if they happen during a pitch. As project manager, it’s up to you to identify the factors that could make or break your visit. Between personal observation and contacts at the company (be nice to the admin—always), you should be able to answer these questions at least a few days in advance:

1. What resources are available in the meeting room? This is perhaps the single most critical issue, and yet it rarely gets asked. Do not assume that your conference room will have multimedia (e.g., a projector), white board or anything else that you might want to use during your presentation. DO tell your contact up front if you have special requests. Remember, no detail is too small. I have been in rooms where you can barely stand much less have the space to place an easel.

2. What is the vendor “Dress Code”?: The common Microsoft stereotype is that you are just as likely to speak to someone in a suit as someone wearing cut-offs and flip-flops. In my 9+ years running around campus, I’ve yet to see cut-offs… but I have seen a flip-flop or two. But I would never wear them myself to a client meeting. My usual attire is a nice pair of slacks and a blouse—even if I’m meeting with someone I know wouldn’t blink if I showed up in jeans. Why? Because you never know when someone important will be pulled into your meeting, or if you’ll have an impromptu meet-and-greet with the VP in the hall. Always dress professionally.

3. How long will it (realistically) take to get there? Yes, the mapping technologies and your GPS all give travel estimates. But they aren’t considering little things such as bridge/lane closures, construction, commuter congestion and accidents. If possible, drive the route beforehand at the same time you’ll be traveling. Also, add your local news radio station to your preset stations for traffic reports. And no matter what, leave early. Traffic is never completely predictable. If you arrive early (as you should), scope out parking and then head to the nearest café for last minute team review. Even though your goal is to arrive earlier than necessary, never go in the lobby more than 10 minutes early—it could be interpreted as poor planning on your part.

4. Where can I park? Is there parking nearby? Does the company validate? Do you need cash or can you use a credit card? These questions might seem banal, but they become the most important thing in the world when you’re up against the clock—and you don’t have five quarters to feed the meter. I was once in a situation where I had to send one person running to the meeting and another team member breathlessly dashing off to find a store to get change for a meter. All because the team leader assumed we could use a nearby parking lot that took credit cards. What he didn’t realize was that the garage had limited public parking—and all those slots were claimed by late afternoon. Always keep a little change on hand if you’re going to an area where you have to pay to park. We now keep a roll of quarters in the glove compartment, just in case.

Next time: Prepping Your Team

So we have relaunched this site as a blog where we can tell you some of what we’re up to and share the unique insights we’ve uncovered to help you navigate the stormy waters of Web 2.0 and beyond.