I’ll be sure to reply to your message when I wade through my inbox upon my return. If your message is urgent and requires immediate attention, please send an email to [contact name] at [contact email].
This is something I recommend doing only after you understand the dynamics of your workplace and your clientele. If it falls under the “okay” category, this unapologetically real out of office email can be a talking point when you return to your cubicle. It’s a short, simple, and sweet yet savage email. You can tweak the wording to write a bit of a diplomatic message based on your organization.
.
Best wishes for happy holidays and a magnificent New Year. May the holiday season bring only happiness and joy to you and your loved ones. Wishing you and your loved ones peace, health, happiness, and prosperity in the coming New Year. Let the spirit of love gently fill our hearts and homes.
My workplace is super strict about out of office replies. We have 3 scripts we are allowed to use; and we are only allowed to change our name, job title, and return to office date. If you veer off script, management will have IT turn off your out of office as it does not comply with their standards. They are also super strict with messages on our voicemails, again with the option of using 2 scripts and changing your name, job title, and return to office date.
The reason for the OOOs for staff taking half-days? They didn’t want to check the shared office calendar where our time off was recorded. UGH
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:
Creating a voicemail greeting might not be fun, but with the scripts I’ve shared, you should have an easier time. No need to practice time and time again — simply plug in your name, company title, and other details, then read it out loud to your phone’s voicemail greeting recorder. With a professional greeting, you’ll continue nurturing prospects even if you don’t pick up the phone.
Picking the right words for you holiday out-of-office emails can seem like a proper “task”, particularly if you want to be both clear and polite with your message, while sprinkling it with usual phrases about the spirit of holidays. Yet, leaving your customers without this type of message is a big no-no, as it presents you as an unprofessional & sloppy equivalent of the notorious Ebenezer Scrooge. Thus, you need to fire up your email client and announce your absence with style by sticking to the following templates and tips.
(Obviously, it wouldn’t fly in all cultures, but I do think this should be more normalised.)
This msg is automated because until March 23rd I am moving to Avenue Park. That’s right. A cross-country road from the sector street. I will get back to you when we pull into the driveway.
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!
The worst Out if Office I’ve seen wasn’t about the wording, it was how it looked. For some reason, some lawyer decided to write their OOO in lime green font against a deep blue background. SO GARISH. I could not read anything. Highlighting the text didn’t help either. Had to copy & paste it somewhere.
Why Automation Testing is a Must-Have in Software Development Sep 8 - Software development is a huge field with many moving parts. When developing a new product, it’s important to have quality… Read More »
There are some places where the culture absolutely embraces this type of…expression so it may be that it works just fine.
Let them know that while you’re not technically OOO, you aren’t operating at typical capacity.
Need inspiration? Here are five out-of-office message examples from the career development site guaranteed to spread holiday cheer professionally:
Two to three sentences is usually enough to tell recipients everything they need to know.