Are you planning for an extended leave from work? It’s common to need to take extended time from work for a variety of reasons – parental leave, medical leave, needing to care for an ill family member. No matter your reason for planning an extended leave, following these 5 steps will lead to a successful transition.
1. Plan Ahead
If you know that you will need to take time off of work, plan as far ahead as possible. Find out your company’s policies from HR on taking time off of work, including what paperwork you may need to complete, how far ahead of time you will need to have this completed and with whom you will need to share your leave plans. It’s also important to find out how you may be compensated during this time – depending on what type of leave you are taking, the length of the leave and your company’s policies on paid leave – so that you can plan ahead financially as well.
2. Organize Projects and Clients
Make a list of all of your ongoing projects or all of your current clients. Create detailed notes on the status of each project and what (if any) actions will need to be taken when you are out of the office. Assess which projects will need attention while you are gone, which projects can be completed before you leave or which projects could be put on hold while you are out.
3. Identify Your Support Network
Who will you need support from while you are on leave? Is there anyone else that can help you with projects or clients while you are out? Do you have team members that can take over some of your responsibilities? If you have your own business, do you have an assistant that can help or can you hire a temporary assistant to help while you are out? You will likely need support in some way and identifying this ahead of time will be important.
4. Communicate Early and Often
Ensure that your team or clients know when you plan to be away and for how long. Communicate your plan with them so that they are comfortable and can ask you any questions ahead of time. Also, be sure to communicate with them what will happen if your leave time needs to be adjusted. In the case of parental leave, the baby may arrive earlier than expected or you may need additional time off after if the baby or mother has additional medical needs. In the case of medical leave, a recovery may be slower and you may not be able to return to work as soon as originally planned.
Communicate as early as you can. Also, set expectations for communication while you are out. Are you completely offline? Or will you be checking email occasionally? Or reachable only by phone?
5. Prepare For Your Return
While you probably have a specific date in mind for going back to work, think about how exactly you will return to work. Will you go back immediately full time, or would you prefer to start off with a part time schedule or phased in approach? How will you handle any projects or clients that colleagues may be handling currently for you? Will you take these back over immediately, let your colleagues complete them or work on them together?
There are many factors to consider in planning your extended leave from work. Following the 5 steps outlined above will help to ensure an easier transition into and out of leave for yourself, your family, your colleagues and clients.