I’m currently on a mini-retirement like Tim Ferris talks about in the 4 Hour Work Week.
We started in Paris and cycled east. We moved into Germany and the Black Forest:
The riding has been amazing. As has been the food!
We’re here for a month and I didn’t bring a laptop! Just my phone.
The first time I took a mini retirement was in 2008 and it taught me a bunch of things.
How do I know my Filipino team is working while I’m on vacation?
To be honest, when I first had to step away from my business years ago, I didn’t know if they were going to keep working. All I knew is they have everything they needed to keep working. They have the training and the tools.
They knew I wouldn’t be back for a while. So, I was half expecting my business to be in shambles when I got back.
It wasn’t. It was even better than before I left it.
– unnecessary things got dropped
– important things got solidified and improved upon
So, over the years, I’ve realized that when your OFS has:
- The right training
- The right tools, and
- A clear set of responsibilities.
You don’t have to worry about them not working at all.
Now that I have around 40 people working for me, I also have Joven, my project manager, who keeps things running smoothly.
There’s also our Basecamp. We’ve reached that point where my OFS team adds their own tasks on Basecamp. So I’m not worried they’re going to run out of things to do when I’m not around.
The only thing I really need to do is to let them know how long I’ll be on vacation and when they can expect me back. This lets them know what projects we need to put on hold and which ones need to be rushed.
Do they take things easy when I’m away? Yeah. But that’s mostly because there are some things they can’t do without my feedback. Other than that, things still get done and the business keeps running.
By the time I get back, I’ll be ready to catch up on all the emails and messages they sent me.
To get to this point, the best place to start is to give them the right training. VAsMadeEasy.com.
John