Summer holidays and your small team: a practical plan

Guidance on keeping your business running smoothly when summer holidays leave you short-staffed.

If you run a team of ten and two people are off at the same time, you've just lost 20% of your workforce.

That's a big gap. And it tends to show up in missed deadlines, overworked colleagues, and frustrated clients.

Most of this is avoidable with a bit of forward planning.

Here's what I'd suggest you think about before the summer rush hits.

 

Start by working out who does what (and what happens without them)

Before anyone heads off on holiday, sit down and map out who owns which tasks and responsibilities. You're looking for the things that can't sit still for a fortnight, the things that can be paused, and the people who could step in if needed.

For every team member with leave booked, ask yourself two questions:

• What absolutely has to keep moving while they're away?
• Is there someone else who could pick that up?

If the answer to the second question is "no", that's a red flag worth addressing now rather than in August.

The fix doesn't need to be complicated. A simple handover document, a quick walkthrough with the person covering, or a shared folder with the key files can go a long way. If the gap is too wide for anyone internally to fill, it might be worth looking at temporary cover.

"But what about the people still at work?"

Good question. And honestly, this is the bit that gets overlooked most often.

When the team is short-staffed, the people who are in tend to just crack on. They pick up the slack without being asked. That's great in the short term, but if it goes unacknowledged for weeks, you're storing up problems.

I see this pattern regularly through my HR consultancy services in Thanet. A business gets through summer fine on the surface, then September rolls around and someone hands in their notice. The connection between the two isn't always obvious at first, but it's there.

So what can you actually do?

First, tell people you know it's busier and that you appreciate the extra effort. It sounds small. It takes two minutes. But it genuinely matters.

Second, decide in advance what's allowed to slip. If everything stays at full priority while the team is at half capacity, something will break. Better to choose what gives rather than letting your people figure it out on their own.

You can also cut back on meetings and non-essential admin during peak holiday weeks. If a task can wait until everyone's back, let it wait.

And check in with people during the busy period, not just once it's over.

 

Let your clients know early

If your capacity is going to drop over the summer, tell your clients before it becomes a problem.

Most people are completely fine with a heads-up. They'll adjust their expectations and plan around it. What they won't appreciate is finding out after a deadline has been missed.

A short email or a quick phone call ahead of time can save you a difficult conversation later.

What summer absences can teach you about your business

Here's something worth paying attention to. If one person being away causes real disruption, that tells you something important about how your business is set up.

It highlights where knowledge sits with just one individual. It shows you which processes only work because a specific person runs them. And that's useful information, not just for surviving summer, but for building a stronger team going forward.

Ask yourself:

• Are there tasks in your business that only one person knows how to do?
• If that person left tomorrow, how long would it take to recover?
• Could you spread knowledge more evenly across the team so you're less exposed?
• Do you have any documentation for your key processes, or does it all live in someone's head?

These aren't comfortable questions. But answering them honestly now puts you in a much better position for the rest of the year.

How I can help you get summer-ready

I work with small businesses to put practical plans in place before the holiday season gets busy. That includes mapping out who covers what, creating simple handover structures, and thinking through how to support the team members who'll be holding things together while others are away.

The goal is to get you through summer without burning anyone out, and without a retention headache waiting for you in September.

As an outsourced HR consultant, I can help you put these pieces in place quickly and simply.

If you'd like to have a chat about how to prepare your team for the summer, get in touch.

I'm always happy to talk it through.