One of my friends, recently made herself public enemy in her office after returning from a week-long holiday. Not that the holiday is not a well deserved one, she definitely deserve a break after accomplishment of a major project. It was how she bestow her presence in the workplace after her vacation.
So what exactly happen?
Ignore The Most Important Priorities You are gone, having fun under the sun, with a cocktail in hand but business still goes on in the office. That means while you have promptly set your “Out of Office” email, someone somewhere in your office still need your assistance somehow. They are probably counting down to the very minute you stepped into the premises to the point of having their emails or their call returned.
Organised your emails into high alerts and quickly glance through the content to see if you need to answer right away. Do the same for your voicemail and notes that are piling up on your table. People will appreciate that you try your best to answer all of that on the morning you came back from holiday.
Flaunting Your Holiday Photos While we would love to see a series of snapshot you have taken while you are basking in the Ibiza beach or when you are sloshed drunk, swaying your hips to the beat, we really don’t need to be reminded that you were enjoying yourself while we are slogging away under the dragon’s breath of our boss. My dear, that is what Facebook and Twitter are for… Your tan and your newly purchased bag are evident enough that you have thoroughly enjoyed yourself.
Only if someone asked, should you start swiping your iPhone for a couple of photos but do keep it a minimum, in case that someone is just being polite and using your holiday as a conversation starter for something work related. Standing half an hour in your cubicle hearing how beautiful Mount Fuji is not professional and not fun too.
Forgetting to Undo Your Away Message Nobody wants to see your Out of Office auto reply message after three days you are back to your work. Especially the person who is covering your duties. She or he doesn’t need to explain to another colleague that you are actually sitting in your desk and the phone call is diverted to her phone because you, once again, forget to undo call diverting.
Make sure that is the first thing you should do when you start work. If you tend to be forgetful, have that alarm set into your phone or your PC when you set your Away message. You really do not want to piss off the person who cover your duties while you are away.
Not getting a Thank You gift It is not mandatory to buy souvenirs for the entire office while you are away on a holiday. Although I really love to do that, just to bring smiles to my colleagues’ faces. However, it would be really nice if you do bring a small gesture for the person who is covering most of your duties, even it is a box of chocolate from the airport’s duty-free shop. It does pay to be nice and he or she will probably don’t mind as much the next time you asked to cover your duties again.
Be Biased That being said, it is just plain ass-kissing if you only buy souvenirs for your boss and ignore the rest of your team. If you are on a tight budget, you can always buy gifts like snacks to be shared during a team meeting for everyone to enjoy rather, restrict yourself to buying one expensive gift.
Do you have someone like that in your workplace? He or she probably doesn’t mean it but he definitely will learn a thing or two if you pass along this article to him! Come on, sharing is caring 🙂
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