Before Time Off: Hand Over the Work That Cannot Wait

Before planned time off, identify the responsibilities that need attention while you are away. Agree who will handle each one, when they are available, what they can decide, and whom they should contact if the plan changes. Check that they can reach the place, materials and information they need. Keep those details in the messages or notes you already share.

If nobody suitable can cover a duty, agree a different arrangement with the people affected. Writing a name beside it does not make the work covered.

Start with what comes due during your absence

Look at the dates you will be away and the commitments that fall within them. Separate duties that need cover from work that can wait. If postponing something affects another person, confirm the change with them.

Here is a fictional example. Jo organizes a community book swap and will be away Monday through Friday. Two cartons of books are due at the community room on Thursday between 10 a.m. and noon for Saturday’s swap. Someone needs to receive them. Jo’s optional newsletter draft has no commitment during that week and can wait until Jo returns.

GitLab’s customer-success time-off guidance separates dated actions from background work, and includes contacts, resources and an escalation path. Those are useful questions to adapt; its company procedures are specific to GitLab.

Agree the duty with the person doing it

Ask about the actual task and time window. Sam agrees to receive the two cartons on Thursday from 10 a.m. to noon. That is a specific commitment, rather than a general promise to handle anything that comes up all week.

Lea, the event coordinator, agrees to handle delivery changes during Jo’s absence and take over any follow-up after noon on Thursday. Sam can receive the expected delivery; a different date or receiving arrangement needs Lea’s agreement with the delivery party and venue.

Jo introduces Sam to Lea, the delivery contact and the room contact through their existing communication channels. The delivery party knows Sam will be receiving the cartons. Sam checks that the contact details and delivery confirmation are accessible.

Leave the details needed at the door

In the existing event thread, Jo records the agreed plan. For this fictional delivery, it says:

• Where and when: community room, north entrance, Thursday from 10 a.m. to noon.

• What to expect: two cartons of books, delivery reference BS-42. The delivery contact’s number is in the linked confirmation.

• What to do: receive them using the venue’s agreed process, place them on the designated book-swap shelf in the community room, and post a receipt note in this thread.

• If something changes: contact Lea using the details in this thread. Lea coordinates a different delivery time or place; Sam has agreed only to the Thursday morning window.

Use enough detail for the person to act without searching through unrelated history. Link the existing confirmation or instructions where they already live.

Walk through the first likely situation

Before leaving, Jo asks Sam to describe where to go, how to enter, where the cartons belong and whom to contact if they do not arrive.

Suppose this reveals that Sam knows the address but has no way to enter the room. The duty still needs an access arrangement. Jo and the room contact must arrange authorized access for the agreed window, with Sam checking that they can enter and reach the storage spot. Alternatively, the venue, delivery party and receiver can agree a different receiving plan.

Keep the access problem unresolved until that arrangement exists. Adding more instructions to the thread cannot open the door.

Decide what happens if nothing arrives

If no cartons arrive by noon, Sam contacts the delivery party with reference BS-42 and tells Lea the result. If there is no reply, Sam reports that too. A useful message would be: No delivery by noon. I called using BS-42 and have not had a reply. No cartons are in the room.

Lea then handles the follow-up, as agreed. A proposed later delivery needs a receiver who has accepted that new time and can access the venue. Sam’s original commitment does not mean waiting all afternoon or returning another day.

Change the arrangement if cover becomes unavailable

Now change one fact: before Jo leaves, Sam discovers they cannot attend Thursday morning. Jo and Lea need another willing, available receiver with workable access, or an agreed delivery change with the delivery party and venue.

Until that is confirmed, the Thursday delivery remains uncovered. Tell those affected what is unresolved. If the books cannot be received in time, Lea also needs to address what that means for Saturday’s swap. Keeping Sam’s name in the thread would hide the problem.

Leave the outcome where Jo can find it

After receipt, Sam’s short note should say what arrived, when and where it was placed. For example, if those events occur: Thursday, 11:15 a.m.: received two cartons under BS-42; placed both on the book-swap shelf in the community room.

If the delivery did not happen, keep the latest agreed arrangement and the person handling it in the same thread. When Jo returns, that record should make clear whether the books are there or a delivery still needs attention.