Identify an optimal timeframe for a company-wide break, which requires thoughtful consideration:

• While soliciting feedback from employees and team leaders can provide valuable insights, important to recognize that accommodating everyone's preferences may not be feasible. A key factor to evaluate is the proximity of the proposed break to any critical organizational deadlines or major projects. 

• Don’t schedule a break too close before or after a significant event or initiative because it could inadvertently create additional stress and strain, counteracting the intended benefits of the time off. 

• Learn if staff have significant childcare or caregiving responsibilities, for example. If so, would they find benefit to a break week falling during a week when school or other childcare is available.

•  The same is true in identifying if your staff is connected to specific religious or cultural events/holidays. If so, these may not have the same ROI on rest and rejuvenation as you might hope. 

• Conduct a short survey, or staff listening session. Again, every choice will represent some trade-off, but making an information-rich decision will help you have better results by conducting a short survey, or staff listening session. 

• Case Making: This will be true for organizations new to BREAKWEEKs, and those with new stakeholders to bring along. Benefits include:

  • Enabling your team to fully disconnect,

  • Improving mental health,

  • Boosting productivity

  • and stronger recruitment and retention. 

• Identify “a coalition of the willing” who will help champion breakweks. This should include staff, board members and other stakeholders who can help champion BREAKWEEKS: 

  • A senior staff member or Talent/HR lead should be accountable to the process and bought in. 

  • A board lead is brought into the process and helps bring along other board members

  • The small committee working on this should start by reading the case making articles on breakweek.org for initial context. 

• Do an organization-wide yearly vacation audit and determine how much vacation your team used over the past year. Research shows Americans do not use the vacation they have!

First, high fives for planning 3 months in advance!

This is great time to start to get your team excited about what’s to come. Make sure your BREAKWEEK is on the organization-wide calendar, and set aside some time to meet with the senior team and managers to brief them on what to expect and why BREAKWEEK is impactful and important.

The sooner you get your people managers on board with the importance of collective rest - for everyone - the easier it will be to implement the steps down the line!

Review key processes, adjust timing where necessary, and notify key stakeholders.  

Identify any critical processes that are typically run weekly or at a specific time that coincides with the planned break week. For instance, if bills are typically processed during the break week, collaborate with the relevant team to create an alternative plan, such as cutting checks early or notifying key stakeholders that this process will be postponed until after the break (assuming it still meets requirements). 

In some cases, it may be helpful to set up automations or scheduled tasks ahead of time to ensure essential processes continue without requiring staff availability during the break.

Review deadlines with staff.

Returning to work after a break when pressing deadlines are looming can be incredibly stressful. Encourage managers to review upcoming deadlines and priorities with each staff member well in advance of the break. By reviewing deadlines a month or more ahead of time, employees and managers can adjust timing if necessary, ensuring that staff can fully disengage and enjoy their time off without worrying about imminent deadlines upon their return.

Consider what the return to work will look and feel like.

After a break, staff often face an influx of emails, voicemails, and other communications that need their attention. Take a thoughtful approach to the return to office by considering implementing a no-meeting day (or half day!) immediately upon return for employees to regroup and respond to these communications. At the very least, ensure that critical deadlines are not scheduled immediately upon return, allowing employees to ease back into their work gradually. These practical approaches can also lower staff temptation to “catch up” the day before the break week ends and/or work on projects throughout the week off. Encouragement to have managers connect with staff on how to separate important vs. urgent work, so that what might initially feel overwhelming can be achieved in a planful catch-up period following the time off. 

Send reminder and final instructions to staff and stakeholders. 

By thoroughly preparing the week before, an organization can ensure all bases are covered to allow for a smooth, stress-free shutdown period for everyone. Below are a couple of items to consider:

• Create a universal “Out of Office” note and voicemail script for distribution

• Send all staff a reminder email with instructions and any special procedures for the week

• Notify and/or remind key stakeholders outside of the organization

• Confirm emergency staffing plans (if absolutely needed)

Relax. Yes, Everyone!

The break week is intended for you and your employees to completely disconnect from work. During this time, the organization should set expectations among staff (and particularly the leadership team who must model for their teams) that they should refrain from:

• Sending work related communications

• Checking email, Slack, Teams, and other work communication channels

• Attending meetings or conduct any work activities during the day or evening

For senior staff who may struggle with these parameters, consider pairing them with an executive coach (or scheduling an additional session or two with your optional BREAKWEEK coach!) to help them model the week well for their teams, and gain the maximum benefits themselves.

Assess and share the results.

An important step with any pilot is to assess the impact. We recommend you develop and disseminate a survey or some other tool to help you gauge impact and satisfaction. We then encourage you to find ways to share the findings with both your staff and board and consider what other partners or funding organizations of yours may benefit from your findings. 

If you would like to receive sample survey questions from R&R’s BREAKWEEK initiative and/or be part of R&R’s nationwide data gathering project on the impact of implementing a BREAKWEEK, please contact rachel@restofourlives.org to discuss further.

Create new or updated organizational habits.

Assuming that break week was a success for your organization, consider adding a break week permanently into the calendar of organization-wide closures. You may also want to consider reflecting your organization’s commitment to well-being on recruitment materials as well as job postings. Make sure to bring along staff in this process by communicating clearly that the organization is permanently adding this, signing on for a second test or, if not, why. If the impacts of break week were clear in either direction, but, for example, the length of time or time of year was found to be hard, consider simply editing the next pilot to reflect the needs of the organization rather than letting it go completely. Organizational habits are critical for the growth and sustainability of the culture, and we encourage you to continue including ‘breaks’ in some way, shape or form as part of yours!