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If you’re using Gmail, you’ll find settings for out of office messages by clicking the cog icon on the main screen:
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Out of office messages are usually handed to managers, employees, or coworkers as a means of notifying them about your short.
It isn’t hard to write an out of office message. And it’s less important than learning how to write a great follow up or understanding what makes a killer subject line. But that’s just the reason why a lot of people usually underestimate what an out of office message can achieve.
I wouldn’t hate voicemail so much if people were better at leaving voice mails– If your voice mail is much longer than 30 seconds, you’re doing it wrong! If it’s just “It’s Bob, call me back”, you’re also doing it wrong! The voicemail sweet spot is something like this:
The answer lies in writing an effective out-of-office message to help reduce the interruptions. “Let key people know you’ll be gone before you leave,” says Ivan Misner, founder of the global business network BNI and author of Who’s In Your Room? The Secret to Creating Your Best Life. “That will help reduce your email. Then craft an out-of-office message for everyone else.”
I also kinda want to sit here with popcorn and read all the shenanigans that are about to roll in.
Rather than clutter your general greeting, set an auto-attendant for a campaign-specific phone number. You can assign a unique number to each of your campaigns. Record a voicemail message that helps callers to learn more about your marketing campaign.
@cwarzel I’ve started putting mine up on weekends, and on weekdays after 7pm for internal senders. I’m offline for the night & won’t be checking email, dorks.
Confirm any expected deliveries will not be left at your door or unattended. Reschedule if necessary.
You’re finally taking some time off of work. Sure, your holidays this year won’t be spent sunning in the tropics or scaling an ice-capped mountain as you might have hoped, but you’ve got big plans for taking some down time to rest, relax, and binge new shows on your favorite streaming service.
I have a couple people that I work with though who set them for outside their normal work hours, like they automatically kick on at 4:30pm and off at 8am or whatever, and then there’s the one special snowflake who sets her out of office not only when she leaves for the day every day, but also when she takes her half hour lunch or her fifteen minute break, Jesus wept.
Website: https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/professional-voicemail-greeting
If you’re anything like I am, you probably fall into team two. That doesn’t leave a lot of time to get creative. But if you plan ahead, you might be able to craft some hilarity.
Our office will be closed on [date] for the public holiday and will reopen again as normal on [date]. Contact details for emergency can be found on our website.
With that in mind, we’ve put together five simple examples of what your out-of-office message could look like, from the wild and wacky to the simple and fact-y. And if you’re not sure about the logistics of actually setting your auto-responder, here’s a quick guide on how to do that.
Scared of offending a coworker who may or may not celebrate the holidays? Worry not — I’ve got the perfect email for you. If this OOO message does anything particularly well, it's that it respects the differing views, religions, traditions, and opinions of your coworkers — while amusing so many others.