This is another compilation of my tweets that look at how to put a project on hold for the holidays and how to build a restart plan.

During the holidays projects that are underway may be put on hold due to people taking time off. This can be good if you plan for it

• The first step is to identify tasks that must be done before the project goes into holiday mode.
• Once the tasks that must get done are known then you can set the date that the project will go into hold mode. This gives you a target date
• The next thing to do is meet with the project team to make sure there are no open risks or issues that must be addressed before the holidays
• The next task is to build a restart plan for the project. Don't assume that you can just jump in and pick up where you left off.
• The start up plan needs to take into account which tasks need to be restarted first and when the needed team members are back at work.
• When you create the restart plan add a task for a restart meeting with the team and a plan review to make sure something hasn't changed.
• The project restart plan should cover the first 2-3 weeks of the project after the holidays and designed to dovetail into the project plan
• During the first week of the restart plan make sure that people aren't over utilized. There could be other items that will take there time.

Once the restart plan is done communicate it to the team and get feedback and buy in. This will help ensure a successful restart