Delegate work when you're out of office

What you'll learn

How to set notifications and delegate tasks before you leave the office. Also, how to quickly catch up when you return to work.

What you'll need

10 minutes

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In this tutorial

Notify your co-workers Prepare and assign work Keep track of work

1  Notify your co-workers

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Share your out-of-office details

Choose your communication tool depending on who you're corresponding with (for example, send an email to your boss or a quick message to teammates).

1. On your computer, go to Gmail.
2. At the top left, click Compose.
3. In the "To" field, add recipients. You can also add recipients:
   • In the "Cc" and "Bcc" fields.
   • When you compose a message, with a "+ sign" or "@mention" and the contact's name in the text field.
4. Add a subject.
5. Write your message.
6. At the bottom of the message, click Send.

Tip: To add individual recipients and groups of contacts you created with labels, click To:. 

Send a direct message to someone:

1. Go to Google Chat or your Gmail account.
2. If the name isn’t already under "Chat," click Start a chat .
3. Enter a name or email address. Suggestions appear as you enter text.
   • To send a 1:1 message to someone outside of your organization, enter their email address.
4. Click the person you want to message.
5. Enter a message, then click Send .

Start a group conversation:

1. Go to Google Chat or your Gmail account.
2. Under "Chat," click on an existing group conversation, enter a message click Send .
3. If the group conversation isn’t under "Chat,” click Start a chat Start group conversation.
4. Enter a name or email address. Suggestions appear as you enter text.
5. Click Done .
6. Enter a message, then click Send .

Add out-of-office dates to your calendar

If you’re out of the office, update your Google Calendar so co-workers know you’re away from work.

When you indicate that you’re out of office, your calendar will automatically decline all meetings during that time.

1. On your computer, open Google Calendar.
2. At the top of your calendar, click the first date you’ll be out of the office.
3. Click Out of office.
4. Select the dates that you’ll be out of the office. You can also specify a time.
5. Optional: To schedule out-of-office events that repeat, below the day and time you select, click the drop down menu next to “Does not repeat”  choose a frequency.
6. Optional: Change your decline settings and edit your decline message.
7. Click Save.

Cancel or reschedule meetings

You also need to make sure you decline or reschedule any meetings. You can send a note to your guests to explain your absence or reschedule a meeting.

Send a note to guests:

1. Click the event on your calendar.
2. Next to "Maybe," click the Down arrow Add note.
3. Enter your note.
   Tip: Next to “Going,” you can also choose your RSVP.
4. Click Save.

Note: All guests can propose a new time, except for events with more than 200 guests or all-day events.

Reschedule a meeting:

Note: If the event organizer has given you access to modify an event, you can reschedule it directly without proposing a new time.

1. On your calendar, click the event.
2. Next to "Maybe," click the Down arrow Propose a new time.
3. Select a different time or day.
   Tip: You can also add a message to your proposed time.
4. Click Send Proposal.

Set up a vacation responder

In Gmail, set up an automated reply to incoming messages so co-workers know you’re unavailable.

Turn your vacation responder on or off:

Note: To use Vacation responder, your account must be at least 24 hours old.

1. Open Gmail .
2. At the top right, click Settings See all settings.
3. Scroll down to Vacation responder and select Vacation responder on or Vacation responder off.
4. If you turned on the vacation responder, enter the dates you're away and add a message. Then, select who should get a response.
5. At the bottom, click Save Changes.

2  Prepare and assign work

Create a transition document

Create a transition document in Google Docs or Google Drive—explain you’re out of the office, list the contacts who are taking over your work, and any relevant project files.

 

1. On your computer, open a Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms or Vids  home screen.
2. Click Create .

You can also:

• Create a file from template
• Use a template in Google Vids

If your organization has Gemini for Google Workspace, Docs can create a first draft of your transition document for you or refine the text you've already written. For details, see Collaborate with Gemini in Google Docs.

Search for co-workers

If you’re handing over a project and you need to find other people in your organization, such as reviewers or managers, you can search for people in Google Cloud Search.

1. Sign in to Cloud Search at cloudsearch.google.com.

   If you can't sign in, your account doesn't have Cloud Search. Learn more
2. Search for a person by name.
3. In the result card, click the icons to the right of the person's name to send an email, schedule a meeting, or start a video call.
4. To get other contact options or more reporting information, click the person's name to open their profile information page. 
5. In the profile information page, click how you want to contact the person:
   • To send an email, click Email  or the person's email address.
   • To set up a meeting, click Schedule .
   • To chat, click Chat .
   • To start a video call, click Video call .
6. To contact the person's manager or direct reports, click the name of the manager or report to open their profile information page.

Assign tasks and share files with co-workers

Assign tasks in the project plan:

1. In Docs, Sheets, or Slides, select the text you'd like to comment on.
2. Click Add comment .
3. Enter your comment in the box.
4. (Optional) To direct your task or comment to a specific person, enter a plus sign (+) followed by their email address. You can add as many people as you want. Each person will get an email with your comment and a link to the file.
5. (Optional) To assign the comment to a specific person, check the Assign to box.
6. Click Comment or Assign.

Note: If a file reaches the maximum number of comments, you can make a copy of the file without copying over any comments.

Share a file or folder with specific people:

1. Select the file you want to share.
2. Click Share or Share .
3. Under Share with people and groups, enter the email address you want to share with.

   Note: If visitor sharing is on for your organization, you can invite someone who doesn't have a Google Account to collaborate on your Google Drive files and folders. See Share documents with visitors.

4. To change what people can do to your file, on the right, click the Down arrow Viewer, Commenter, or Editor.
5. Choose to notify people:
   • If you want to notify people that you shared a file with them, check the Notify people box. If you notify people, each email address you enter will be included in the email.
   • If you don't want to notify people, uncheck the Notify people box.
6. Click Share or Send.

Share a link to a file or folder:

1. In Drive, right-click the file or folder you want to share and select Share .

   In Docs, Sheets, or Slides, at the top, click Share.

   Note: You can only share files that you own or have edit access to.

2. (Optional) To specify what people can do with your file when you share it, under your organization name, click Change:
   • To change the permission, at right, click the Down arrow  and select Viewer, Commenter, or Editor.
   • To allow sharing the link outside of your organization, next to your organization name, click the Down arrow Public.

     Note: If you don't see this option, contact your administrator.

3. Click Copy link.
4. Click Done.
5. Paste the link in an email, on a website, or wherever you need to share it.

Explain who's taking on your work

After you establish who you need to contact, compose an email or send a message to stakeholders.

1. On your computer, go to Gmail.
2. At the top left, click Compose.
3. In the "To" field, add recipients. You can also add recipients:
   • In the "Cc" and "Bcc" fields.
   • When you compose a message, with a "+ sign" or "@mention" and the contact's name in the text field.
4. Add a subject.
5. Write your message.
6. At the bottom of the message, click Send.

Tip: To add individual recipients and groups of contacts you created with labels, click To:. 

3  Keep track of work

Check in on work while you're away

While you’re away, you might need to check in occasionally by email or a direct message (DM) to see how projects are progressing.

1. On your computer, go to Gmail.
2. At the top left, click Compose.
3. In the "To" field, add recipients. You can also add recipients:
   • In the "Cc" and "Bcc" fields.
   • When you compose a message, with a "+ sign" or "@mention" and the contact's name in the text field.
4. Add a subject.
5. Write your message.
6. At the bottom of the message, click Send.

Tip: To add individual recipients and groups of contacts you created with labels, click To:. 

Send a direct message to someone:

1. Go to Google Chat or your Gmail account.
2. If the name isn’t already under "Chat," click Start a chat .
3. Enter a name or email address. Suggestions appear as you enter text.
   • To send a 1:1 message to someone outside of your organization, enter their email address.
4. Click the person you want to message.
5. Enter a message, then click Send .

Start a group conversation:

1. Go to Google Chat or your Gmail account.
2. Under "Chat," click on an existing group conversation, enter a message click Send .
3. If the group conversation isn’t under "Chat,” click Start a chat Start group conversation.
4. Enter a name or email address. Suggestions appear as you enter text.
5. Click Done .
6. Enter a message, then click Send .

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