“Could you keep an eye on my inbox?” sounds like a small favour. It becomes less small when a message asks you to approve a change, disclose a document or promise a delivery date. Before cover begins, turn that broad request into a few agreed boundaries.
The same approach can help with a shared team mailbox. Use only access your organisation has authorised; a handover should explain the work rather than require someone to share a personal password.
Separate acknowledgement from a decision
List the routine things you may do, such as confirming receipt or directing a request to an existing help page. Beside them, list matters that require the owner, manager or another responsible colleague. Give the escalation route, including what to do if that person is unavailable.
For an illustrative example, you might acknowledge a booking request but leave a change to the agreed price with the designated approver. A friendly reply should not accidentally become a commitment you cannot make.
Find out what “urgent” means here
Ask for concrete examples instead of a blanket instruction to flag anything important. A message about today’s event may need a different response from a question about next month’s report. Identify any real deadlines, existing service expectations and circumstances that require immediate escalation.
Avoid inventing a new response promise while covering. If you cannot resolve something, explain the next step accurately rather than offering a time you have not agreed with the person doing the work.
Leave a trail the returning colleague can use
Choose the existing team method for marking a message as answered, waiting or escalated. Record the action and its reason where authorised colleagues can find it. A second private list can create confusion if nobody knows which record is current.
At the end of cover, send a short summary of unfinished items: the request, what has happened, who has it now and any date that matters. Link to the original conversation within the approved system rather than copying sensitive material into an unnecessary new document.
This is a specific version of a handover that helps the next person start. Clear limits make it easier to be helpful: you know which messages you can move forward and which decisions belong elsewhere.