Vacation/Time Off

Vacations and other absences are an essential part of work, so we’re thrilled you’re thinking about taking some time off!

Accordus Out-of-Office Policy

The following steps should be followed if you are going to be Out-of-Office for 3 or more consecutive days.

As you finalize the dates you will be out of the office, first email your department coordinator:
- Accounting = Hannah
- Creative = Adrienne
- Communications Coordinators = Blaine
- Database = Deb
- Team Lead = Becklin
- Other = Alex
- Department Coordinators = Anne, Amber, Shae
TEAM LEADS: as soon as you know that you’ll be out, please reach out to Becklin to start finding your coverage for your OOO dates.
Let your dept. coordinator know the date(s) you plan to be out of the office.
Outline the responsibilities/tasks/meetings that need to be covered during that time.

EMAIL: Create an automatic email reply and set it for the duration of your absence:
- Example: “Thank you for your email! I will be traveling 6/3/2023 – 6/7/2023 and will return on 6/8/2023. Please contact [name of the person covering for you] (xxx-xxx-xxxx or [email protected]) in my absence. Thank you!”
TEAMWORK: At the beginning of your OOO period, go to your profile in TW. Click “Edit my profile” and then add “OOO” in front of your name. Then click “Update.” This will alert the team when they go to assign a task to you in TW while you’re out and remind them that you are OOO. It does not PREVENT people from assigning tasks to you, but it serves as a reminder so they can reassign it to someone else. Once you return from being OOO, you MUST remember to go back in and remove the OOO from your name on your profile.
CALENDAR: Add your OOO dates to the [email protected] calendar:
Event title: [First Last Name] OOO – [availability]
Example: Michelle Austin OOO – Unavailable
Availability examples: Available, Available for Emergencies, Checking Email.
In the description section of the event, copy your summary of responsibilities/subs (as sent to your Dept. Coordinator in step #1)

Work ahead! As much as possible, make sure all of your tasks are completed in advance.
For remaining tasks and responsibilities that need coverage, follow the direction of your department coordinator to line up substitutes. As these details are finalized, email your department coordinator a summary of the sub-plan.
Create and share instructions with anyone who is covering for you to ensure they know when and how to complete the task(s).
Notify your team that you will be out and who will be stepping in for you. Please make sure you send an email for each client that includes all team members assigned. Members of our team that work on the back end need to know when you will be unavailable and whom they can direct their questions to.

Send a summary of your out-of-office plan to your team leads (see the client assignments sheet here) your subs, and your department coordinator.
Include: dates of your absence, responsibilities to be covered, name of your sub(s).

Notify your clients the week before your planned OOO days and provide contact information to the substitute team leads.
Send a summary of your out-of-office plan to your subs and your department coordinator.
- Include your dates of absence, clients to be covered, and name of sub

Prepare the agenda for each client and create a briefing video for your sub.
- For your briefing video, pull up the client agenda in TW and talk through each item. Be sure each task includes the necessary comments and links.
- Ask your substitute to record a short debrief video for you after the call. This will provide you a quick way to get up to speed on what happened while you were out.
Please remember to specify if you just need call coverage, or if you will need assistance with tasking and managing incoming projects. This will help the sub know the expectation and amount of work that will be needed from them.
- Contact Becklin for a list of subs to reach out to.