We’re all going on a summer holiday – at the same time!

Ah, the magic of summer holidays. And the pain of summer holiday requests. CMI’s chief executive, Ann Francke, recently addressed this thorny issue in The Times. How do you manage when too many team members want to go away at the same time? 

Ann emphasised the need to prevent surprises by planning properly. Managers should establish the organisation’s staffing needs at the start of the year, and communicate that long before the temperatures – and any administrative tensions – start to rise. 

She also stressed how holiday planning is essentially a matter of business continuity: if a clash does occur, you can ask anyone who has flexibility whether they’d mind changing their plans. And if the issue persists, ask the people taking the holiday to arrange and brief the appropriate cover.

But that wasn’t the end of the story. Ann’s advice sparked a range of responses that we felt were worth looking at more closely.

Here are some of the most interesting ideas that emerged…