Every time the grocery store clerk asks, “Would you like to donate to breast cancer?” I have to bite my tongue.
I dunno – I think it says more about the writer than the culture. I worked in tech where there were always a handful of people who would do stuff like this, but most people would keep it basic. I just think some people love putting funky or gimmicky twists on rote stuff.
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I am the LW! It’s interesting, having Alison type out the OOO reply comes across less condescending than how it did in video. I’m sure it works for their office but it also says a lot, potentially, about their culture that she’d need to write something out like that in the first place! Usually “I’m OOO from X to X, please contact X for (reason)” should suffice.
During the holidays, many offices shut down in a way that they do not throughout the rest of the year. For these rare few days, you may be completely inaccessible to customers and unable to help employees who are trying to sneak in a little extra work through the holidays. Use this checklist to make sure that you've shut down the office correctly--and that you're able to get everything back up and running smoothly again when the holidays are over.
I find it rude because if I emailed them, it might be an FYI but requiring no action. If they just delete it, they might then be confused about project status later. I would be annoyed to have to re-send a message after the fact because they don’t think ANY email during their time off has value.
I’ll be back in front of my computer on [date] and will respond to your message then. If you require immediate assistance, please feel free to send an email to [Contact Name] at [contact email] so that they can help you out.
I appreciate your email. Currently, I am out of the office but will return after (Date of Return). My access to email will be limited during this period of time.
As with all winter breaks, but especially in a longer break, division and department leaders are responsible for ensuring that external contacts are aware of the closures and as appropriate salaried staff are performing services as necessary to meet the needs of the community during the closure, including checking email/voicemail and responding to time-sensitive matters.
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The announcement of holidays to the employees should be done in a professional and formal way. One way to do this is to write a memo and send to all the employees to inform them about the upcoming holidays and closing of the office. The other way is to write the letter and send it to each employee individually.
The example above (which comes from NY Times) may not take advantage of some of the tips we mentioned, but it’s great because it’s so short. Due to its absent-minded straightforwardness, such a message can be perceived as a real, non-automated reply — as if you were so busy that you only carved out a few seconds to type these five words.
Setting your out of office may be different depending on the email provider you use. But whether you’re on Outlook, Gmail, or another platform, it should be a relatively straightforward process.
Hello! I’m going to be out of the office until [date]. If you need something before then, please contact [colleague] at [email] or [phone number] to receive assistance.Hello! Thank you for your email. I am out of the office right now but get back to you ASAP. You can expect a reply by [day] latest. For anything you need right away, you can contact [alternative contact option].
A separate after-hours attendant menu can inform callers that your office is closed, state your business’ operating hours, and provide options that callers can immediately act upon. For example, you can direct them to your website for FAQs. If your business provides an account login page, remind your customers that they can login at any time to get general account information. In this situation, be proactive.
Automated reply messages can keep customers informed with the right responses that show your care towards them. With modern applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI), there are new avenues to automate your customer communication and handle customer requests more efficiently.
I set my OoO for individual public holidays, because I know they’re not global, and I get emails from lots of different countries.
Thanks so much for reaching out. I’m currently attending the [conference/event name] from [date] to [date] and will have limited access to email during this time.