By far the worst question. “I am absolutely not interested in you.” That is essentially the message you are giving when you greet someone like this after a vacation. You do not need to thoroughly question your colleague about their vacation, but showing some personal interest is the minimum.

Moreover, you should not expect your colleague to be able to solve all questions on the first working day after his/her vacation. Put yourself in your colleague’s place for a moment. How would you feel if this were the first question your colleague asked you? As much as you may want to ask this question, try to wait one day before doing so.

This question is almost never asked out loud, but it is often thought. Colleagues who take plenty of time on the first day after their leave to share their experiences with their colleagues. At first sight, this does not seem very efficient. And in all honesty, that is something I myself have sometimes been annoyed by in the past.

But scientific research shows that ‘physically sitting together and interacting with colleagues are very important protective layers against burnout’. Keith Ferrazzi explored this in greater depth in the book with the telling title ‘Never Eat Lunch Alone’.

It turns out that lunch is one of the most important moments of the day. Not only to recharge your ‘physical batteries’ by ‘venting’ to colleagues, but also to stay informed about what is happening in the organisation. In his book, Ferrazzi explains in detail how people who have lunch with others progress faster in their careers and generally perform better. So even after a vacation, it is not a problem if that break lasts a little longer.

Of course, you have gathered several new and great ideas during your vacation. Ideas that, in your view, will bring about a huge positive change in the way your team operates. That is exactly where the problem lies.

Be careful about implementing change ideas immediately after a vacation. If at all possible, it is better to try to harness the renewed energy of your team members to reflect on this together. Provide ways to collect their new ideas. This can be done through a call for ideas to be submitted or by placing a central document on your shared drive.

Your employees have also gained new insights during their vacation. And then it is important that they know where to go with them. Because here too, the rule applies that ideas coming from the team are always stronger than ideas that you want to introduce ‘top-down’.

Of course, you may expect your colleagues to quickly get back into action. But at the same time, it is a good moment to make use of the breathing space created by the summer vacation.

"What is still coming our way this calendar year?" That is a question your employees are interested in, but one from which the team as a whole can also benefit greatly. During the last week before the vacation, everyone was mainly busy finishing all tasks so that they could leave for their vacation with peace of mind. It is possible that the overall overview was lost during those final weeks before the vacation. Half of the working year has already passed; only four months remain. Therefore, it is good, both for yourself and for the team, to have a clear understanding of what is still coming your way and where the main priorities will lie. But does that really have to happen on the first day after your leave? Next week will do just as well, and your team will be even more ready for it.

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