How to Make an Out-of-Office Plan for Your Agency (Vacation, Parental Leave and More)
By Danielle Stephanie · Published · 10 min read
In this guide
- Why do you need a written out-of-office plan for your agency?
- What should an out-of-office coverage plan include?
- How far in advance should you start planning time off?
- How do you tell clients you're going on vacation or leave?
- How do you decide what your team can handle without you?
- What counts as an emergency while you're out of office?
- How do you plan for maternity leave or parental leave as a business owner?
- What if you need to step away because of burnout?
- What should your handoff note say?
- What should you do when you come back from time off?
- What does this look like in a real agency?
- Frequently asked questions
- Make your next out-of-office easier than this one
An out-of-office plan for business owners is a short written guide to how your agency runs while you're away: who covers for you, what they're allowed to decide, what counts as an emergency, and who clients should contact. For a vacation, start at least four weeks ahead, and for parental or medical leave, start months ahead. Then stay offline. When agency owners come to us before time off, the worries are almost always the same: who will answer clients, who will approve deliverables, and who can find the logins. A written plan answers all three before you leave.
Why do you need a written out-of-office plan for your agency?
From working with creative agencies, we've found the team usually knows how to do the work but doesn't know what they're allowed to decide without you. Without that in writing, finished work sits waiting for your approval, or it turns into a Slack message you end up reading on vacation. A written plan removes that guesswork.
What should an out-of-office coverage plan include?
A good plan covers six things. Coverage is who owns each client, project and task while you're gone. Decision rights are the written list of what your team can decide without you and what has to wait. Escalation rules say what to do when something falls outside those rights. You also need a client communication plan, access to the logins, files and tools your team will use, and a re-entry plan, meaning how you catch up when you return without undoing your team's work. Keep it all in one ClickUp doc or Notion page.
How far in advance should you start planning time off?
Once you know what goes in the plan, the next question is timing. For a vacation of a week or two, four weeks gives you time to move deadlines, hand over client relationships and run a short trial with your point person, the one teammate who covers for you and makes calls while you're away. Every agency's prep looks a little different, depending on your clients, your team and how much still runs through you, so there's no single order you have to follow. Below is one example countdown to adapt. Move pieces earlier if a task takes your team longer to learn, or later if it's already documented, and stretch the whole thing for longer leave. The principle is to hand over the things that only you know first, give your team time to practice before you go, and leave the final days for reminders and loose ends.
Four weeks before
List every active client, project and deadline that overlaps your time away, and decide whether each will be finished, moved or delivered without you. Choose your point person and check their capacity, meaning how much free time they have in their week. Pause kickoffs or launches that would need you. For tasks only you know how to do, record yourself doing them in Loom or Kommodo while talking through the steps, then turn the transcript into an SOP (standard operating procedure), a written set of steps for the task. To skip the blank page, use a free SOP Starter Kit from the Template Shop, such as the social media agency kit or brand design studio kit.
Two weeks before
Write your decision rights and escalation rules (explained below) and walk your team through them. Tell clients using the first template below, and bring your point person into active client threads. Move project conversations out of your DMs, check that client files are organized and shared (see how to set up data tracking for your agency), share access through a password manager, and schedule any invoices due while you're away.
One week before
Treat this week as a dress rehearsal. Go through each client and project with its owner, then for a day or two send every question to your point person and notice which ones they can't answer. Send clients a short reminder and draft your auto-reply and Slack status.
The day before and while you're away
Write your handoff note, the written summary you leave your team (covered below), turn on your auto-reply, set your Slack status, and confirm the emergency channel with your point person. Then delete Slack and email from your phone or turn notifications off. While you're away, your team logs decisions in one place and only true emergencies reach you.
How do you tell clients you're going on vacation or leave?
Clients are the people most likely to notice you're gone. Many agencies send a first message about two weeks before (earlier for longer leave), a reminder a week before, and an auto-reply, but how many messages you send and when depends on your clients and how involved you are in each account. Whatever you send should answer what your client will want to know: when you're away, who to contact and how, what stays the same about their project, and anything they need to send you before you leave. Use the examples below as a starting point and adjust them so they sound like you.
Template 1: Advance notice (two weeks before)
Subject: Heads up: my time off [dates] and who to contact
Hi [Client name],
I'll be out of office from [start date] to [end date].
While I'm away, [Point person name] will be your main contact for [project name]. They can be reached at [email] or in [channel]. Your timeline stays the same: [next deliverable] is still due on [date].
Please send anything that needs my input by [date].
Thank you, [Your name]
Template 2: Reminder (one week before)
Subject: Reminder: I'm out [dates], [Point person] is your contact
Hi [Client name],
Quick reminder that I'm out from [start date] to [end date]. [Point person name] is your contact for anything on [project name] at [email]. Everything is on track for [next milestone].
Template 3: Email auto-reply
Thanks for your email. I'm out of office from [start date] to [end date] with limited access to email.
For active projects, please contact [Point person name] at [email]. For new inquiries, please [book a call / use our inquiry form] and our team will follow up.
I'll respond to anything that still needs me after [return date].
Template 4: Extended leave (parental, medical or burnout leave)
Subject: An update on my availability
Hi [Client name],
I'll be stepping away from day-to-day work from [start date], returning around [return date].
Your project is in good hands. [Point person name] will lead your account during this time, supported by [team member]. Our process and timelines stay the same, and [Point person] is your contact for updates at [email].
Thank you for your understanding. [Your name]
"Stepping away" or "time off" is enough; there's no need to share personal details.
How do you decide what your team can handle without you?
Once clients know who to talk to, your team needs to know what they can decide, which is where most plans get vague. We suggest sorting decisions into three groups.
| The team decides | The point person decides | Waits for you |
|---|---|---|
| Routine deliverables that follow the brief | Small scope questions within the contract | New contracts, proposals or rate changes |
| Scheduling and internal deadlines | Moving a deadline by a few days with client agreement | Ending a client relationship |
| Which approved template or SOP to use | Handling a client complaint and offering a revision | Hiring or letting go of team members |
| Fixing a mistake that doesn't change the brief | Approving a deliverable when your review isn't possible | Anything with legal or financial risk |
Keep the right-hand column short. If most decisions land there, start with our guide on team management in a small agency.
What counts as an emergency while you're out of office?
Decision rights cover the everyday, and escalation rules cover everything else as a ladder: the team handles what's within their rights and covered by an SOP, asks your point person about anything else, logs what can wait, and contacts you only for a genuine emergency, through one agreed channel like a phone call. Define "emergency" in writing. It usually means a client threatening to end the contract, a legal or security issue, a payment system failure, or a team member who can't work with no backup in place. A late caption or a fussy revision request doesn't count.
How do you plan for maternity leave or parental leave as a business owner?
The same plan works for parental leave, with a few differences: the leave is longer, the start date can move, and you may have less energy in the weeks beforehand. If you're self-employed, start planning months ahead and aim to be ready a few weeks before the due or placement date. Write down every recurring responsibility, run a trial step-back well before your leave, and tell your team whether you'll be fully offline or doing a planned, limited check-in. Pause new client intake or make sure your client onboarding system, the steps that welcome new clients and get them set up, runs without you, and plan a gradual return. Take financial questions to your accountant or financial advisor.
What if you need to step away because of burnout?
Burnout rarely arrives on a schedule, and sometimes there's no four-week runway. When that happens, cut down what needs you as fast as possible: name a point person, hand over active client threads, pause new pitches, launches and internal projects, send clients the extended leave template, and set up one emergency channel.
What should your handoff note say?
Whatever kind of leave you're taking, your team reads the handoff note first. For each client, it should say which project they're on and what stage it's at, who owns it while you're away, the next deliverable and its due date, any open questions or risks, and client notes that matter, like preferences, sensitivities and who signs off on work. Keep it in your project tool. If your delivery stages aren't mapped yet, see how to map client delivery so projects stop waiting on you.
What should you do when you come back from time off?
How you return shapes your next absence. The most common mistake is opening your inbox first and spending the morning redoing calls your team already made. Instead, block your first morning, read the log and your point person's summary, and meet with them before replying to anything, because redoing decisions made within their rights teaches them to wait for you next time. Then update your SOPs, decision rights and coverage plan while the gaps are fresh.
What does this look like in a real agency?
With Eralyn Interiors, an interior design studio we supported through Design Assisted, we mapped workflows with the team, including procurement and pricing and technical design, then centralized operations in ClickUp, including the client onboarding process that had been manual, and set up a new shared drive structure. You can read that and other examples in our client stories.
Frequently asked questions
Make your next out-of-office easier than this one
To see how much of your agency still depends on you, start with the free Baggage Check, a self-assessment from GYOT (Get Your Ops Together) that shows where your agency still depends on you and what to hand off first. If you want to start documenting on your own, the free Template Shop has templates and SOP Starter Kits sorted by industry. If you want the systems built for you before your next leave, look at Ops Concierge, our done-for-you systems build around how your agency already works, or get an embedded operations partner, someone inside your business covering day-to-day operations, through the Residents' Lounge. For the bigger picture, read how to take a vacation as an agency owner and the systems every creative agency needs.
