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Luckily for you, my colleague *Name* generously offered to cover for me. You can reach him/her at *email*.
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I kept it even though I received it four years ago because it made me laugh so much!
I no longer work at this company due to the misalignment with advertised company values and actual practice.
When you’ve finally powered your way through that seemingly endless to-do list and are ready to check out of work-mode once and for all, there’s one final thing you need to take care of: Setting your out-of-office response.
We had someone at my old job whose auto-reply stated that they were at a “White Privilege Conference”. Granted, the conference was about dismantling White Privilege, but to someone outside our work who didn’t know that, I imagine that got quite the reaction!
This message is automated because I won’t be in the office until [DATE]. I will get back to you as soon as possible when I’m back at the office.
Thanks for your email. I’m on vacation. On the couch. Eating chips. And bingeing Stranger Things for the eighth time (don’t tell anyone).
But what should you do to keep the message informative, engaged and maybe a little festive?
Q. Are there sample voicemail and out-of-office email messages that we should use?
An away message will generally be a 160-character auto-reply message that can be turned on or off as needed.
I give my folks scripts because, otherwise, I end up with long winding OOOs that talk about why they’re out but not what the writer/caller should do to get help (staff is 1/3 entry-level with varying degrees of professional office familiarity). I do not have the time to micromanage to this level, though – if I see an off-spec OOO, I send the how-to guide and remind them that they need to tell people who to call while they’re out or to mention the specific dates, but most of them have good judgment enough not to be totally inappropriate to the point I need IT to intervene.
Setting up out of office messages removes the guesswork done by customers when a response doesn’t come back right away.
15 Out of Office Messages for Professionals. February 26, 2021. Out of office messages are automatic email replies, or autoresponder email messages, that go out to colleagues, customers and clients when you are away from work. They let others know you are unavailable for contact and when they can expect a response to their emails.
When we were working from home (we’re mandated to be back in the office now), my voice mail message was something like “I check voice mail, but if you want a faster answer, please send me an email at [email protected]” And it’s amazing how much more to the point emails are than voice mails! Much less “Well, this is unusual (it’s not) and needs the whole backstory (it doesn’t)” and 15 minutes later getting to the actual question (“can I do this thing that a regulation clearly indicates I can’t do”)
But your out-of-office message is as much for you as it is for the people receiving it, especially during the pandemic. “Boundaries have taken a big hit right now,” Ritter says. There’s a lot of pressure associated with missing something at work, and that stress has been heightened without the typical separation between office and home and with the added fear caused by an uncertain economy. An OOO message is a chance to set expectations, “to give yourself some breathing room and to ensure other people aren’t thinking negatively about you,” Ritter says, and it’s crucial for your mental health.
In my world, “please contact $Manager” is recognition of a staffing level problem. $Manager will have to decide what project to defer if a crisis comes up while someone is OOO.