Try this out with your colleagues or share it with colleagues/clients headed off on a vacation to send them off in style:
Maybe you’re still available on email, but your location means there might be a little bit of an issue with time differences. This response is clever and a little bit geeky!
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I have a colleague who directs people to email an alternative email alias when she’s on leave. This alternative email alias? Yup goes to her. Don’t know why she does it. She’s also set a rule in her team that they have to answer each others’ phones of someone is away from their desk. Inevitably, the person answering the phone can’t help and tells the caller to send an email. It drives me up the wall.
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I ALWAYS forget to leave a voicemail response with the same info above! Don't be like me.
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If you’re traveling to a remote, mountainous area, why not jab some fun at your lack of WiFi in your autoresponder? Plus, that makes it less likely that people will expect an immediate response or continue to email you after the first try.
Bon voyage! You’re going on your holidays and you’re completely leaving the office behind. This is the perfect auto-response if you won’t be checking your emails the entire trip.
Like the previous examples, the message doesn’t have to be lengthy – you just need to let people know the details, and who they should be contacting in your absence.
I say “thanks for your message” because it feels to brusque without a greeting – but I can see it either way.
Feel free to share some examples of auto-reply messages that you have used or such that you’ve received. Include those in the comments below, and we can have a chat.
Changing it every evening is definitely too much, though. I would assume the vast majority of people sending business email understand the concept of working and non-working hours…
That would drive me mad. I’m okay with in meetings all day but if you’re just going home at a normal time that’s ridiculous!
I’m new to tech but have watched my friends in tech with envy up until now. Worth the wait. I may be in the minority but my company actually assumes we’re all adults and treats us like human beings. So different than working in the myriad corporate dronehouses I’ve been in up until now. Finally, a place I can have my pink hair!
While you certainly don’t want to go on and on in your message, there is an opportunity to engage or educate while you’re away. Here are a few options to potentially include.
Thanks for your email. I’m currently out of the office, returning on [date]. I’ll respond to your message then.
That’s basically my OOO message also. I’ll admit, I haven’t checked my office phone in weeks for VM, because anyone internally (or externally with any brain) would IM or email, and any spam calls can just sit in my VM.