My colleague does that just for holidays.. it does say who else to contact, but tbh if I’m emailing him a couple of days before he’s due to return then I’m not massively impressed at the insinuation I should take the action of remembering to resend it… in reality I think he probably does read *some* emails but clearly views the OOO as a way to absolve responsibility if he misses something..
Company President doesn’t want sales to use ‘out-of-office’; they’d prefer that the customer feel we were always available for them – 24/7. They also say that vacation are just nicer places to read emails….
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Thanks for your message. I am out of the office today and have limited access to email. If you need immediate assistance, please contact [Name] at [phone number], or you can try me on my cell phone at [phone number].
If your request is urgent, there’s no use sitting idly in my inbox. So, please send your request to [contact name] at [contact email].
Company President doesn’t want sales to use ‘out-of-office’; they’d prefer that the customer feel we were always available for them – 24/7. They also say that vacation are just nicer places to read emails….
If your phone system allows employees to receive external calls at their desks, instruct them to record a "closed for the holidays" message or "out of office" voicemail greeting that gives callers essential details about the closing.
“It’s not about removing the OOO response altogether,” says Sadler, “but instead pausing to consider what details you’re including.” Continue Reading
If this matter isn’t time-sensitive, rest assured that I’ll respond when I’m back from this break. But you can resend any messages that require my immediate attention with a subject line of “URGENT: [Original Subject].” Out of Office Template #6 For the Person Who Likes to Live on the Edge (of HR Protocol)
If you can, include the sender's original message in the automatic reply, to help them 'unsubscribe' you of any list or to remind them about their enquiry, which can be forwarded to someone more suitable.
I usually put my boss in my OOO, because if something is so urgent that it needs to be delegated RIGHT NOW then it’s urgent enough that my boss should know about it, and he’s also in the best position to know who on the team to delegate it to based on everyone’s workloads and what can be dropped. But the most likely result is that whoever is emailing me either waits for me to get back because it’s not that urgent or goes to the next/backup person based on our central documentation about who to contact for particular issues.
This email is humorous because anyone going on a family trip knows the ups and downs of having everyone together on the table. Harry’s both sarcastic and light-hearted same time giving us this amazing getaway auto-reply that most of us couldn’t agree more to:
But this is where it becomes a power thing. The OOO person says that everyone else wants stuff from them that the sender can’t get elsewhere and you need to grovel to get it from them.
Of course, every message sends a message, even a barebones OOO that seems to say nothing more than that you’re away until next week, so why not try to inject a little personality? You could get quirky by giving your auto-responder robot a personality. You could dispense with words altogether and substitute a gif or emojis. Or how about a little retro concrete poetry – you know, where you arrange your words on the screen to form an image of a palm tree or a pina colada? It might be worth noting here that the amount of personality you inject depends on your trade. What earns you cachet in the creative industries might backfire in the financial sector, for instance.
I guess my first instinct might be thinking it’s rude but having seen it a few times I do get it. It really makes sense for people who get dozens or hundreds of emails a day and are gone for extended periods of time. It’s more courteous to be up front about it than silently delete like some people said they do (though I get they maybe just didn’t realize they’d need to do that).
Are you the office prankster? Are you also taking some time off to relax during lockdown? Everyone loves a cheeky out of office response. We’re big fans of the example below. You’ll have your whole office in hysterics.
I think this is great. A little too long, but it would work well as an internal reply in a large office with the right kinda culture. I’m imagining how useful it would be in my previous office with 300+ people that always had some “fire” or another to put out. I also appreciate how it protects the sender’s time off–at no point does it say “ok, fine. contact me.”
Everybody wants to feel needed. It’s always best to set an automatic out-of-office response when you know you won’t have access to your inbox. Take advantage of the examples we’ve shown you and done right, this is a fantastic way to boost loyalty and gain e-commerce sales without being too pushy. Design a message that is funny or thoughtful to help you stand out from the crowd!