Ready to be “Out of Office”
Hi All,
Cold New Jersey weather has us dreaming of warmer temperatures and vacation days. However, it takes more than just putting up your “out of office” response on your email to get away. To be able to truly take a break and be out of the office physically and mentally, planning is required.
Whether you are traveling or simply taking a few days to relax at home, we have five tips today to help you set up your time out of the office for success.
Step 1: Review your current workload and prepare staff.
Go through your current files and tasks. What do you need to get done to meet a deadline before you are out? What can you delegate to someone else? What can you prepare staff to respond to while you are out? Brief your staff and provide clients with another attorney in your firm that they can reach out to while you are out.
This first step is all about managing the expectations of the people in your office. In order to do this you first need to know what is coming up in your files and then setting an action plan in motion. You cannot prepare for every possibility, but there are definitely things that you can set up before you leave the office. Setting these expectations ahead of time will allow you to take a true break and prepare your coworkers to respond to any pressing matters.
Step 2: Set expectations with your clients.
Touch base with current clients that have more active cases or issues the week before. When Amy is drafting documents for clients, she is certain to send those out before she leaves so that the clients can review the documents in her absence and are ready to schedule an appointment when she returns. If she has a client in the middle of a transaction, such as a business sale that isn’t due to close for a few months, she will advise them of her out of office dates and when they can expect to hear from her.
For this kind of transactional work, it is sometimes helpful to let the other attorney know you’ll be out and they can expect to hear back from you when you return. Again, setting expectations for clients and counsel will set you up for a successful and more restful time out of the office.
Step 3: Disconnect.
This is perhaps the most valuable and the most challenging of all of the steps. Consider removing your work email from your phone or at the very least snooze notifications. If you have a tendency to check email, even when you are supposed to be out of the office, consider limiting your access to that email. If you read or view an email, it will take up unnecessary space in your mind. This is especially true if it is not something you will wait to respond to when you are back in the office. Disconnecting also allows you to be more present.
Step 4: Give yourself a buffer.
If you will be out of the office from the 1st to the 7th, keep your out of office up until the 8th. This will allow you to return to the office on the 8th and review your email, mail, and phone messages. You will have the time to prioritize your tasks and responses instead of responding to messages haphazardly.
Doing this can really set you up for a great return to office. Because people are not expecting to hear from you until the next day, you have given yourself the time and the space to really go through what happened while you were away and prioritize.
Step 5: Acknowledge that rest is productive.
Rest is productive. Taking a true break will allow you to rest and clear your mind. You will be able to return to the office more refreshed and as a result more productive. Acknowledging how productive you will be once you have allowed yourself a rest will make steps one through four all the more attainable.
Let us know how you set yourself up for out of office success!
Have a great day!
Haley & Amy
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Please keep in mind that your jurisdiction will have rules of professional conduct that you must follow. This discussion does not focus on the any such rules, including the rules from the jurisdiction where we practice. Rather this is a discussion of tips we have found helpful in managing client expectations in our own experiences. This should not be taken as legal advice.
We make absolutely no guarantee, expressed or implied, that by following the advice you will make any money or improve current profit, as there are several factors and variables that come into play regarding any given business or career. Primarily, results will depend on the business model, the conditions of the marketplace, the experience of the individual, and situations and elements that are beyond your control. As with any business endeavor, you assume all risk related to investment and money based on your own discretion and at your own potential expense.
Nothing contained within this podcast is intended or should be construed to be legal advice and does not create any attorney client relationship. No material on this site, social media, or in the podcast is intended to be a substitute for professional medical and/or mental health advise, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advise your physician or other qualified provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment and before undertaking a new health care regimen. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website.
