5 June 2011

Summer days are here again -- Finally!!

I haven't been blogging in awhile because there have been lots of things going on in my personal life and at work.  My second grandson was born in early May and what a cutie he is.  There is a board meeting coming up next week and I've been organizing that.  I was going to need a tractor to cut my grass if I didn't do it soon, so I had to mow the lawn.  And on top of all that I was sick with a nasty flu for a week.  Life sure can get busy...but wait! Summer vacation time is right around the corner.  I am anticipating the time off as I'm sure many of you are. 

How does your office organize summer vacation time or do they?  Our office starts a vacation calendar around mid-May and all staff enter their vacation requests for the summer.  It is a simple tool, but a good one to ensure there is someone on site at all times.  There was an article in Office Arrow called Oh no the entire office is on summer vacation.  It sounds funny, but it could happen if you don't plan ahead.

The assistants in our office operate on a buddy system and we try to coordinate our holidays to make sure there is the necessary admin support in each of our areas.  I find if you start talking about vacation ahead of time, it gives people time to make adjustments if necessary.  I recall a few years ago, someone in my office submitted their vacation request and attached their flight itinerary to the form.  It was too late then to make changes, the flights had already been booked, but that was not fair to the others in the office.  If you plan in advance then it is easier to accommodate each other's schedules. 

Have a great summer everyone.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on your new grandson! I'd be using all my vacation time to hold him! I am the only secretarial support in a University department of about 85 students and 20 faculty. I have been in this department for 5 years now and have not taken off more than one day at a time due to how extremely busy it is. In my first year, I thought I would figure out when "down time" is--guess what? NO down time. Burnout is just around the corner. In trying to figure out how better to organize myself, I found your blog. It is a wonderfu resource and I have been enjoying it very much! As I start to read some of your past posts, I am getting more and more ideas. I just don't know what I can do about WAY too much to do and not enough help. In this economy, I think many of us are feeling the pressure to perform and be grateful for still having a job, which translated means don't complain and work harder! Anyway, thanks so much for your great blog. I'll be checking back often.