Take a Hike: 5 Steps to Help You Enjoy (a Real) Vacation by Ren Grajales

Headed to Yosemite this summer? Or maybe a trip to the beach? Sounds great. But if the thought of stepping away from your business-and the mess of digital and paper files you've been avoiding since New Year's Day-makes your getaway feel more sand trap than beach, you may want to start prepping your team now.

Here are five steps to help ensure your information management is in good hands-so you can contemplate the important issues, like whether to go hiking or sleep in.

Step 1: Prepare and delegate critical tasks. Don't wait until the day before you leave to get started. Give yourself ample time to list all responsibilities that need coverage, potential issues that may arise while you're gone and a point person for each.

This is a great time to review how you're managing critical documents. Are your records properly organized and accessible, or are they shoved into Bankers Boxes in a storage room? With an organized system in place, you'll never again have to take a panicked Where's that file? call.

Step 2: Determine who gets access. You'll need to decide who can look at those records that are usually for your eyes only while you're gone. Consider partnering with a trusted records management provider to help you get set up. With your records professionally organized, tagged and indexed, they'll be secure and easily accessible. If any issues arise while you're away, your employees will know to call your expert partner.

Step 3: Establish (communication) rules. A clear schedule for calls and emails takes the pressure off everyone. You won't feel like you're MIA, and your team will know when it's OK to contact you and when to let you sleep in. But no cheating: If you're going to set up a schedule, stick to it.

Feeling brave? Consider email bankruptcy, the practice of deleting-unopened-all messages delivered to your inbox during your absence. Make it clear in your out-of-office auto-reply that you won't be reading any email while you're on vacation, and include contact info for the person on your team who will be taking your calls and/or responding to your mail.

Step 4: Institute an emergency plan. This is for urgent matters that need attention immediately-especially important if you're headed to another time zone or somewhere remote. Set out clear steps, plus a list of contacts-lawyer, insurance, accountant, records management providers, etc. Also clearly define what constitutes an emergency so you're not asked to put out fires that don't exist. Make sure your disaster recovery plan is in place, and your team knows about it. Don't have one? Read our previous post on small business disaster preparedness.

Step 5: Recap when you return. When you're back, have a meeting to discuss the successes and weaknesses of your plan, including your records management system. Were your colleagues able to easily locate and access records? Were they able to find and retrieve offsite records? Eventually, you'll have a watertight vacation plan you can execute with ease, which means a more relaxing break for you.

Now all you need to do is decide on your plan for escape: Yosemite or Myrtle Beach?

LINK:	http://blogs.ironmountain.com/2014/service-lines/small-business/take-a...
	See more stories from ironmountain

Most recent headlines