You can clarify that there’s a possibility that you’ll see the email before the return date, but you can’t guarantee it.
So what makes a good automated response that will give you the reassurance you need to keep your work email under control so that you can truly enjoy your holiday?
.
I know a lot of people who never vacation for more than a few days because the email backlog becomes incredibly stressful upon their return; this is one way to meaningfully combat that which is somewhat in the employee’s control.
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Whether you prefer to keep it simple or have a little fun with your OOO message, it’s always essential to include the basics so you don’t have a mountain of emails to respond to when you get back. Then, all there’s left to do is stay out of your inbox and enjoy your vacation fully!
“We went to New Zealand and I informed everyone in my [out of office] that I was ‘bungee jumping in Queenstown’, which seemed like what I should do in Queenstown,” the reader said.
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?
I am out of the office July 15–25. In the event of an emergency, please contact Yuko Kawakami at [email protected].
Feel free to stop by at [location], where I will be speaking about [topic]. Here’s a link to
Calls/SMS Auto Reply app lets you add customized out of office messages that it sends automatically in response to missed calls and texts so that your clients or co-workers know what they can expect. A prompt auto-response is a great way to save relationships and trust and retain customers. You can use these messages to tell them when you will respond and what they should do in case they need urgent assistance.
My new job provided a template OOO as part of the onboarding brand templates package! I’m sure it might seem like overkill to some, but I’ve had tons of nervous first-job employees ask me what theirs should say, so I loved that they just gave a sample to go from. Also goes a long way in communicating that unique office culture stuff that is usually unspoken/not formalized.
Image Source: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/hilarious-out-of-office-email-auto-replies
I think you talk to person X and ask them to cc you when they are dealing with things sent to them because of your OOO.
With all these changes, the simplest tasks come saddled with a lot of extra questions. Take the out-of-office message. Do you really need an out-of-office autoresponse if you haven’t seen an office since March? The simple answer is yes.
Obviously, I need to update it. And if you haven't changed your voicemail greeting in over a year, you're likely in the same boat.
An old boss had a pet peeve about this so I became very conscious of making sure that I listed out who to contact on what day… before the group email. So it looked something like this:
Just because you are away, you still have the chance to keep the business going. Let your email work for you, by offering different things that will ultimately increase the chance to attract new customers. Your marketing team will be so grateful!