How do you manage a flood of out-of-office requests from your team? (holidays, etc.) Do you have any set agreement with them if a certain number needs to be on duty? How do you plan ahead to avoid disaster if a large number are out?
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1. Make sure not everyone on the team is off simultaneously. We ensure senior engineers are on standby if a critical issue exists in production.
2. We have a code freeze for the last three weeks of the year.
Having a transparent and mutually beneficial and flexible time off policy is key. Setting the example of putting time off requests in with as much notice as possible helps ensure everyone has visibility on how many have certain holidays off and where we mayneed more coverage. Adjustments can be made if everyone is thinking long term and being considerate off one another.
Typically OoO Times are planned in advance, so that the business can continue smoothly. Unfortunately, sick leaves disrupt the planning. Most of the time we find someone who is willing and has the possibility to come back from vacation earlier.
Transparency and communication are key for the team. Expectations of coverage should be clear. The fair rotation of duties along with mutual respect amongst peers helps.
We also always give the time back to employees if called in during unexpected times. Providing employees with time flexibility and remote work options throughout the year also helps with their general understanding in meeting time sacrifices during holidays and other high need periods.
Lastly, we use a shared time calendar to track and display all IT personnel leave time so that it is clear who is available and to ensure coverage requirements are met.
Planning way ahead of time and having a shared register, being transparent about challenges and limitations, and encouraging flexibility to support each other. These became handy when I lived and worked in Japan more than my career in Australia :)