Let's all go on a summer holiday

We are now well into the summer holiday season, which poses a tricky problem for business people. Do you pack your bags and sun tan lotion and set off without a backward glance ? Or do you ensure your laptop, tablet and mobile phones are all fully charged so you can keep in close touch with what is going on back in the office ?

You don’t have to go back too many years to find a different world, where communication was much more difficult and where you would have been as well as to take a basket of pigeons with you if you wanted to get a message back to base. Nowadays things are very different and it is possible, should you choose, to be almost as contactable on the beach as you would be in the board room.

And therein you have the dilemma. Do you take a complete break and re-charge the batteries without using any energy on thinking about the business you either run or work for ? Some people can get away with that and they come back genuinely refreshed to tackle what lurks in their in-tray when they get back.

At the other end of the spectrum are those who would not be able to relax for a moment, worrying about issues that were unresolved before they left and imagining all kinds of problems that may have arisen during their absence. In fact if they were forced into going cold turkey with their Blackberry they would probably be nervous wrecks before the end of their vacation.

I think many people, especially the thousands who run small businesses in Bath and North East Somerset, have found a middle path. They can’t completely turn off and forget about the business into which they put so much time and effort during the rest of the year. But nor do they keep their email feeds permanently on a screen in front of them on the sun bed.

It is possible to set aside a short period each day to listen to messages, read emails and respond to anything very urgent. Clients very much appreciate even a short note to say you are away for a few days and will get back to them as soon as possible. It sets your mind at rest that nothing too disastrous is waiting for you and makes the relaxation that much the better.

Wherever, you go on holiday this year, whether at home or abroad, have a great time.