How does your organization approach things when someone is on vacation?

Our reader poll today asks: How does your organization approach things when someone is on vacation?

• We proactively avoid bothering them and prevent them from engaging with work 18.22%
• We avoid bothering them unless there’s a crisis 54.26%
• We email and message them but if they don’t answer, that’s fine 17.41%
• We email and message and expect responses in a reasonable time 6.47%
• What vacation? We reach out constantly and expect prompt response 3.64%

Leave them alone. 72% of you try to leave people alone when they’re on vacation and another 17% send messages but don’t expect replies. For the 10% of you bothering people on vacation, stop. Few of us work in industries where there are true crises requiring replies when someone has chosen to take vacation. You’re likely frustrating them and spoiling their time away that they earned as part of their compensation. Plan better or be more patient. If you get annoyed when work colleagues reach out to you when you’re on vacation, be sure to set a good example when you’re back in the office and don’t bother your team members and colleagues during their time off. Everyone is better off when we respect boundaries and give people time to recharge away from work.

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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These results were originally a SmartPulse poll in SmartBrief on Leadership which tracks feedback from more than 240,000 business leaders. Get smarter on leadership and sign up for the SmartBrief on Leadership e-newsletter.