After a long hour at work, I like to get home, kick my slippers off and watch my wild dolphin, Jasper-Barnaby, swim in the moat. There’s nothing more relaxing than observing a wild dolphin at play in one’s backyard. My personal vocal-coach, Lyndon, once said that watching the sunset on my estate is the closest he’s ever come to God. I believe him.
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.
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I will be away from 03.04.2020 until 13.04.2020. For urgent matters, you can contact (COLLEAGUE NAME).
The best voicemail greeting I’ve ever encountered went like this: “If you’re hearing this message, please hang up and send me a text. I haven’t checked my voicemail since 2010.” And true to form, the mailbox was full and not accepting messages at that time. I appreciated her honesty!
Image Source: https://onepoint21jigawatts.tumblr.com/post/61059236581/day-1-favorite-movie-field-of-dreams-1989
“When I got there and found out the bungee was 134 feet high I got terrible cold feet, but I felt that since I wrote it, I had to do it. So I did. It was terrifying and indeed a lesson on making bold claims in a public way!”
(If you have certain projects you cover list project name and the person covering you).
The following examples and text ideas can be used for almost any kind of holiday / vacation messages. You can switch the language of the text blocks by pressing the tab button.
“Hi, Sorry I missed your call/text. I’m currently out of the office and will not be back until Feb 2. My colleague [name] has agreed to respond on my behalf, so feel free to forward the message to [phone] if it is urgent. You can otherwise expect a response from me once I return. Thanks for understanding.”
Website: https://community.cisco.com/t5/ip-telephony-and-phones/activating-closed-or-holiday-greetings-during-business-hours/td-p/2460502
We promise the world will not end while our offices are closed and encourage you cherish this time with your families and friends!
Once I got an auto reply from a stakeholder on a project that said something to the effect of “Thanks for contacting me. Due to the large volume of email I receive, I don’t read them all. If I haven’t responded within 3 business days, please try again.”
I’ve only seen it used for certain roles – usually admin-type ones – where people are fielding a significant amount of requests, so the potential vacation backlog could become prohibative and discourage people from taking time off.
Thank You for being the Prince of Peace, and I ask You for that supernatural peace to reign in our hearts. Thank You for the simple but life-changing message of Your love for us. In Jesus' Name,...
If you have critical projects that can’t wait until you return, offer a communication option like text messages, suggests Reeves. “I have found, to my delight, that people really are judicious about texting you while on vacation,” he says, with one caveat. “Don’t put your mobile number in the away message. That way, only people who have your mobile number can text you. And those are the ones you care most about.”
Not a big fan of this overly wordy version, but at least the OOM-writer gives you contact info for the people who might be able to help. My pet peeve is “I am out of the office until the 12th of never” with no indication of who might be able to help. But… we also have people who turn on their out of office while teleworking. WHAT?! You’re working. No one cares from where.
But what should you do to keep the message informative, engaged and maybe a little festive?