Sounds like it’s clear in your mind what you want to happen, but I’ve heard plenty of people say, “Of course you took it somewhere else, that’s what I told you to do, and now I have two action-less emails to trash rather than one.”
Regardless of my general health and hygiene over the silly season, I’ll be back in the office on January 2. 15. “Thank you for your consideration during this festive or not-festive time.”
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Being a responsible netizen or professional in the Internet age also means leaving useful clues and messages for your email correspondents whenever you will be out of reach temporarily or permanently. Remember that your email correspondents expect you to respond within minutes or, at most, 24 hours of receiving their emails unless specifically stated in the email that you are free to respond much later.
Those of us who are back in the office haven’t bothered plugging most of the phones back in. We aren’t in roles where we get phone calls, those people are still mostly WFH. There is one persistant caller who does not seem to comprehend ‘X is working from home – please email them’, but that’s the only call we ever get.
Thanks for your email. I’m currently offline, returning on [date]. I’ll respond to your message then.
2) Hi. I’m thinking about what you’ve just sent me. Please wait by your PC for my response.
We’re the official home of the Virgin Group and Branson family. Get the latest from Richard Branson and the Virgin companies.
Duh. We're in the travel industry. Of course, an out of office message involving dolphin-speak would be at the top of our list! Who doesn't love a dolphin?
Automated email messages generate a 70.5% higher open rate and a 152% higher click-through rate than standard marketing messages. Briefing what would be the next step of action gives customers transparent information.
I will be out of the office until *date*. My colleague *Name* will be happy to assist you.
I haven’t set up an OOO message since I got my first smartphone. My usual method is to glance at an incoming work email and forward it to the appropriate person, or maybe write a one-liner response saying I’m out and will answer next week.
My trick though is to leave the out of office on for the first day after I return so folks know to expect delays while I get caught up/triage my inbox. Works for my company.
A new survey undertaken by YouGOV of 1,000 Britain-based office workers has revealed that 30% of employees believe their workspaces are outdated and uninspiring.
I ran a nonprofit organization staffed entirely be volunteers (I was one). After one too many people incensed that we did not follow up to their emails within two hours, we had to include an OOO message that said we were a volunteer organization, and any request may take up to two weeks to process. Please email again if you have not heard from us by then.
The use of animated holiday email signatures creates a sense of memorability as it is more eye-catching and engaging. Ornaments and gifts with Santa and reindeers flying will take it up a notch and increase your chances of a unique email signature. Sometimes, a minor detail may be enough to make it amazing.
After I tweeted this example, dozens of people sent me examples of OOO messages they’d set or particularly good examples they’d seen in the wild. One example from a boss (via a TikTok) who offers emailers a decision tree of sorts. “Option 1.) Wait it out. Ask yourself, ‘is this urgent and important?’ If not, take a beat…you and I will be better off with this expectation set now,” the email begins. This one stands out because it’s extremely detailed, manages expectations and also offers who to contact in different situations. It models good behavior of taking time off, but also gives the original sender a variety of option. Most importantly, the responder forces the original sender to assess whether this is actually an urgent request.
I physically recoiled at the thought of my face appearing on a new browser tab. UGH. The pets do say who their humans are (usually just first name) and what the pet’s favourite things are. My phone is now filled with memes and photos of my monitor as I send pet photos to friends.