Work handover before vacation

What's inside

1. Compile a list of current tasks in one document

   Statuses and links for every task in one place, not scattered across chats. Your substitute shouldn't have to piece together context from old messages.

2. Assign a substitute for each task

   The substitute needs to know and agree ahead of time — assigning them after you've already left almost guarantees it falls through.

3. List which access the substitute will need

   Go through your tasks and list which systems and services the substitute needs into — it's easy to forget one in the rush before vacation.

4. Transfer access through official channels

   Through IT admins or a password manager — not personal passwords typed into chat. It's safer and avoids awkward questions after you're back.

5. Close or hand off deadlines that fall during your trip

   Anything due while you're away should either be finished before you leave or explicitly handed off with a clear deadline and owner.

6. Notify key external contacts

   Clients, partners, vendors you're regularly in touch with — give them your dates and the substitute's contact so they're not left hanging.

7. Set up an email autoresponder

   Your dates and the substitute's contact — so important emails don't disappear into the void while you're gone.

8. Set your status in messaging apps

   In Slack, Teams or similar — set a status with your return date, or colleagues will assume you're just ignoring them.

9. Cancel or reschedule your meetings

   Go through your calendar for the vacation dates — a forgotten meeting with no host looks worse than a clear cancellation in advance.

10. Hand recurring meetings to your substitute

    Standups and syncs that need to continue without you — add your substitute to the invite ahead of time, not the day of.

11. Write a 'break glass' document

    The top 3 scenarios most likely to blow up, and what to do in each — so your substitute doesn't have to call you on the beach for instructions.

12. Set boundaries for being contacted

    Define the one channel and the situations where you CAN be reached. Without that rule, people will reach out for everything, everywhere.

13. Turn off work notifications on your phone

    If work chat keeps pinging your phone, you're not really on vacation — turn off the push notifications instead of just ignoring them.

14. Keep your first day back meeting-free

    Leave a buffer to sort through email and tasks — a day packed with meetings right after vacation cancels out the rest it gave you.