This is the Business English Podcast, Episode 141.
Can you cover for me how to ask for help when you go on vacation?
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Good morning, Michelle. How's everything?
Good morning, Lindsay. Morning. What was that?
Good morning. That's how you say it. How are you?
Excellent. Feeling solid today. Yeah. What are we getting into?
We're talking about vacation again. Love it.
Yeah. Oh my gosh. I just realized there's a million episodes that I'm planning about vacation.
I guess that's where my mind is. Yeah. But my vacation's over.
I'm done. Right. Well, many, many of our listeners, it's August now.
Many of them are going on vacation. I know a lot of our listeners in Europe take August off.
Right. Maybe July to love that. Admire that.
Right. Yes. So if you guys are taking a vacation anytime soon, you know, this episode is going to be fantastic for you.
Right. yes yes so there are a lot of vacations going on and all ears english you know we always work hard to make sure tasks are covered when someone is going away because they have to be right like you can't just yes you know you got to keep the businesses running so we have um you know certain things like for example um aubrey was away and so i recorded quizzes with jessica jessica's away so i recorded quizzes with aubrey So that's just for an example.
We help each other out, like if something needs to be posted to social media and can't be scheduled.
That's great. Lots of different things. But we really I mean, Lindsay, you were talking about how Jessica will help you with emails and just there's so much.
Right. Yeah, I think I shared that on another episode.
Yeah, then for the last two trips that I've taken, I've had Jessica just check my email, right?
Because that is a way so the business keeps running, right?
We need the business to keep running. And there's different ways that your company could set this up.
But we do need to be able to talk about this, let our colleagues know we have a trip planned and see what can be done.
Right? Right, right, right. So today we're going to talk about how to distribute your tasks while you're away.
So guys, just a few days ago, a few episodes ago, we did episode 138 on this podcast was how to write your out of office auto response for your work email.
And so this kind of goes along with that episode because we were talking about how tasks are delegated and things like that.
So this is going to be how you can do that before you head out on vacation.
Yeah, I love that. I love that idea. And guys, don't forget, as you go and find that episode, just hit follow on this podcast, right?
Because when you hit follow, you're essentially subscribing and you're saying, hey, I want this to be automatically added to my listening queue.
And so you won't have to remember to go find us.
You will have us right there for you three days a week.
Good stuff. That is right. That is right.
So the first thing is to check with your supervisor about what to do, right?
Yeah, obviously, right. Yeah, your supervisor should give the okay.
I mean, eventually you might be in a work environment where you just kind of help each other out and it's, yeah, like, I mean, yeah, it might just be a little bit easier, but you might also be in a situation where you really do need to always check with your supervisor about what tasks go where.
Yeah. Or like just company policy in general.
Just kind of. Right. Yeah, exactly. Be aware.
Maybe when you onboard at your company, there would be some instructions about what is the policy for take for out of office work for delegating someone taking over.
Yeah. Right. And again, that depends if it's a it's a large company or small company and like just how things are done in general.
Yeah. So, yeah. But yeah, explain to your supervisor what tasks need to be assigned.
This is not that episode, but we can do a whole episode on how to do that, that conversation with your supervisor.
So talk about what can wait until you return or who you can go to help you.
So. after the first time this happens uh lindsay like we said you might just have an intuition you might not need to ask your boss so you'll kind of get the feel of what to do yeah i mean the worst thing to do is go to your boss and ask them to figure it out for you right if you're leaving it's your responsibility to figure it out at least that's how we treat things here dollars english right if there's a task that you do you're responsible to figure out how it's going to get done whether that's planning ahead or asking someone else to do it for you or creating the item and asking them to post it But we're a small company.
Not everyone treats things the same way.
Not every company treats things the same way.
Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. So let's assume for this episode that you've already had that conversation with your supervisor.
What to do, how tasks will be distributed.
How can you ask your coworker, right? How can you let them know, like, okay, we're going to need to do this.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, I mean, plan everything out and decide if you should email them and ask or ask in person.
Also, it just depends, you know, whatever the situation calls for.
But today we're going to just talk about what to say.
So we're kind of imagining here it's in person.
All right, perfect. So here's the first thing that you could say to a colleague, right?
To bring this up, kind of broach the topic, right?
Are we ready for this, Michelle? Number one.
We're ready. Here we go. So this is what you could say.
Hi, I was wondering if you had a second to talk through some of my tasks before I head out.
So this kind of assumes that the person has already agreed to take on your tasks, right?
The way I'm saying it now. Right. They know maybe they're on your team and they just kind of figure, you know, like, yeah, you're going away.
And so they know that maybe they've been given some sort of heads up that like expect that you're going to be covering for the tasks.
Yeah. Yeah. And I think in some larger, I'm going to have to check in with some friends who work for larger corporations.
I think in some. cases some things don't get done some things just get paused uh with a good auto responder that we talked about in the other episode and then in some cases people take over things so it really depends on the size of your company what would be number two michelle Number two is I spoke with X, so the name of your supervisor, and she said I should check in with you to see if you can cover for some of my tasks while I'm away.
So this is if the person didn't know. So you're bringing up that topic for the first time.
Yes. And then number three, do you have some time next week to cover for some of my assignments while I'm away? okay yeah so similar right like the second one cover for like the basic idea is a cover for what does that mean to cover for cover for that would be a bonus for today or a really good key phrase that we'll probably have highlighted in our ios android app uh cover for is to basically take care of can you do it for me can you cover for me can you take my place that's the idea uh-huh So, yeah, exactly.
Really good ones to use. So these are introducing the topic, like Lindsay said, broaching the topic.
Yeah, broaching the topics. Yeah. So what do you think of these, Lindsay?
Do these feel comfortable? I think they're good.
I would just be aware of... like with number one we want to make sure that we've already had the conversation that they're going to be taking over so if you just come to them and say I wonder if you had a second to talk through some of my tasks yeah that might seem a little like that sounds assuming I'm gonna do your work right it might not be the case if you've had the conversation already fine if they've agreed fine if not you obviously need to have a a situation where you're asking the person for help yeah that's an important point lindsay so yeah the first one uh uh that you're assuming they already they were given a heads up yeah um the second one is more introducing it completely um and um the third one is also you're introducing it do you have some time next week to cover right i'm just asking you if you are okay to help me Yeah.
I mean, I would say with the second one, I spoke with X supervisor and she said, I should check in with you to see if you can cover.
I might leave off the supervisor piece and just go straight to asking, you know, and then if the person says, no, you might be like, oh, I spoke with the supervisor.
They suggest this is the best plan as part of what we do here.
Just because it kind of sounds like this person said, you have to do my work.
You know what I mean? The feeling of that, like.
I get the feeling of that, but I see it another way as well.
Like, because then you're kind of like, if the person is actually going to say, no, you've like started it.
Now you're like being like, well, this person said, I don't know.
Do you know? Like, it's so it could go either way.
Like there are two sides of it. Yeah. Maybe leave it off entirely the supervisor piece until like, if there's a problem, I don't know.
I think we're going to have to come back to that, Michelle.
Maybe we're disagreeing here a little bit.
I think just anytime there's a, this person said that you should do this, it can get a little tricky.
It feels a little bit like school. You know what I mean?
Like the teacher said, do this. Right, right, right.
Well, let's just hope that you're working with nice people.
Like, yes. I mean, I just can't imagine.
I mean, maybe it's just because I have great coworkers.
I can't imagine like being like, oh, Aubrey, you know, would you, you know, can can you cover her just being like. no no right no we don't have that problem yeah everyone's got a great work ethic on our team so you wouldn't need to do anything like that here you know um i think we have to assume the best right in our co-workers from the beginning and then yeah figure out how to deal with it if they do say no So, yeah, in that sense, yeah, in that sense, it would be weird if I like if I went to Aubrey and I was like, well, I spoke with Lindsay and she said this.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Exactly. That's what I mean.
Yeah. But yeah, but that's again, it depends.
Yeah. If you're assuming the best in your coworkers, which I think we should, then you can cut off the first part.
Yeah. Yeah. yeah we're going to revisit this topic we're going to have some guests on the show too that work for bigger companies that could shed light on how this works in a large corporation right we're a small business um and there might be different protocols for sure so very interesting topic yeah right right right so let's talk about okay now they've said okay sure okay so now we're bringing up the specific work we're getting into the nitty gritty yeah uh lindsay what is something that you could say all right so x needs to be done by uh april 12 at 10 p.m for example date and time would you be able to um would you be able to do that for example the spreadsheets need to be done by tuesday at 10 a.m would you be able to do that okay good so you're giving the schedule of like what what are the tasks that you do every week nice like that so nice um uh the second one is i need to to blank by the date and time do you think you could do that next week so if you're going away next week uh you could say next week or if it's you know the starting tomorrow or whenever it is so for example i need to run the reports by wednesdays do you think you could do that next week yeah i love that i love that good example um number three guys i hope you're writing these down take notes on today's episode i usually complete x by you know wednesdays at 2 p.m do you have time to do that next week for example i usually complete the payroll by fridays at 10 a.m do you have time to do that next week okay these are all three very tangible examples giving you guys very specific language here right michelle See details online. all right so Michelle what is something we always want to make sure we we do when we request help because it's not required or assumed nothing is required or assumed right right at least between you two uh yeah yeah yeah well you always want to thank the person and ask them if they have any questions right be kind and thankful and connect right and also you can always say something like oh you know I can help you you know when you when you go away or something like that just Just be the person.
We talked about this a lot on the show. This is not just, you know, just because it's business English, it doesn't mean that it's like robotic or anything.
We're all people. And so we need to remember that, right?
100%. And just keep in mind, you know, you'll be going on a vacation too.
We're all going to go on vacations and we need someone to cover our tasks. if you work in like a more of a like a a full-time salary position you may be doing less tasks more strategy work and that might be a little different right asking someone to take over the strategy work may not be exactly the same so we these are things yeah yeah so we'll we'll come back to that another day guys but just take you know depending on your work your position take what works for you here okay that's right so should we go do a role play yes so here we're um i'm going away and you are um going to help me to complete my task michelle here we go okay and fig do whatever you want with the first part lindsay i'll just do it as we have it written and we've already given the disclaimer that when we say this person said you should do this and we say will you do it it can be a little it might be a little triggering for people right a little bit at times so we'll go with it i spoke with rachel and she said i should check in with you to see if you can cover for some of my tasks while i'm away is that okay with you of course oh thank you So what can I do?
Okay, so I usually complete the weekly rundown by Mondays at 10.
Do you have time to do that next week? Oh, yeah, sure.
Of course. Oh, great. Thank you. And I need to send out the newsletter by Wednesdays at 2.
Do you think you could do that? Absolutely.
Amazing. Thank you so much. I'm always here to help when you go away.
Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks, have fun.
Oh, easy, easy. I'm so nice. I know, good coworker.
So first I said, I spoke with Rachel and we're assuming that Rachel's probably a supervisor of some sort, right?
And she said that I should check in with you to see if you can cover for some of my tasks while I'm away.
Is that okay with you? And again, coming back to our disclaimer, it really depends on the relationship you've already built with your coworker, doesn't it? it's going to be taken differently if it's like someone that you're not on good terms with yeah versus someone like it's all good we all help each other we're a collaborative team right which is like in our case we're a very collaborative team you know yeah for sure for sure so then i say of course and so okay now you're getting into the specifics i usually complete the weekly rundown by mondays at 10 a.m do you have time to do that next week and i say of course Yeah.
And I say, great. Thank you. And I need to send out the newsletter by Wednesdays at two.
Do you think you could do that? All right.
Yep. And I say, absolutely. So and then and then the, you know, bonus is just I'm always here to help you when you go away.
Let me know if you have any questions. Right.
So just letting them know, like, I got you next time.
Of course, I got you next time. I love that.
I love that. So what's the takeaway for today's episode?
Very important skill, because we don't want to come back to the office and realize that you know we're not on good terms with our co-workers when we thought we were right yes exactly right first of all be a good co-worker right like yeah you know be willing to help to say yes um maybe not for you know you don't want to be like a yes person for everything or just right right you have to draw boundaries but if somebody's asking you for some help while you're going away i mean of course you'll go away another time and then they'll help you it's just it is always a little bit hectic when people are on vacation and you have to figure out other plans but that's life that's life we we cover each other's each other's tasks when we can and that's what makes a strong company and a strong team it's also what just makes it more pleasant to go to work you know just to feel good about who we're around i think that's so important guys so yeah connect with their co-workers guys don't be afraid to ask understand your company culture and the procedures then make the ask and then reciprocate right be willing to do that when they go away and take their vacation yeah that's right all right lindsay well thanks for chatting about this with me today and i'll talk to you soon good stuff have a good day michelle talk soon bye Thank you for listening to Business English, a podcast just for you, the high achieving global professional.
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