When December hits it seems as though half of the office disappears, which can be stressful for those still working. Even though its the holiday season and many businesses slow down, it’s still vital to think ahead during this time. Make sure everyone in your office knows when you and your co-workers (or your team if you’re the boss) are taking holiday vacations near the end of the year and plan ahead for how their absences should be handled.

As a team, you’ll typically need to plan ahead for questions such as:

• Who will answer the phones?
• Will you shut down operations to give everyone the days off or will you keep a skeleton crew running?
• Who will get the mail?
• How will people work from home? Will they have access to the correct files and software?
• If there is a “lighter” day, then what will the staff do - organize and file documents to get ahead, perhaps?

Its also important to ensure that your role gets filled when you are gone if the company isn’t on a holiday itself. This means that you should delegate the tasks that need to get done before you leave.