I want you to say this next part with me.
It’s okay to take off holidays. It’s okay to have open hours.
In the world of out-supporting each other, many teams turn to a 24/7/365 support availability.
“See!” they cry. “We’re here all the time via email, phone, Twitter, Facebook, snail mail, LinkedIn, and that brand new app forum that just started yesterday. We’re here!”
When you try to follow this crowd, you need to have a huge support team to cover all that. Plus, you run the risk of burnout if you don’t give employees time off. Have you ever tried to answer phones ten hours straight? It’s a nightmare.
You won’t be alone.
I saw this tweet from the Harvest team last week and loved it. It shows that the Harvest team gets the idea of having open hours.
We’ll be closed Thursday and Friday for the US Thanksgiving holiday. Have a great rest of your week, and we’ll be back in action Monday.
— harvest (@harvest) November 21, 2012
There are plenty of support teams out there with set open and closed hours. You’ll be in good company when you go this route.
It’s not always possible.
Now, there are some businesses out there that need this. If you’re in the hotel business, your customers need to be able to reach you at any time. If you’re in retail, don’t plan on taking off holidays.
But for your average small support team, setting hours is going to be fine.
It’s just like having office hours.
Our team officially runs Monday through Friday 9am to 6pm Eastern Time. Of course, some of us work later than that. And some of us work earlier. But we’ve set up business hours and when we look at response times, we’re aiming for certain goals inside those business hours. That lets us have real lives outside of work.
Don’t feel like you have to kill yourself or your team trying to offer that round the clock support. It’s okay if you don’t. Let work happen during work hours and go spend time with family and friends outside of that.
What hours does your team typically work?
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