We do it every time we go on vacation or take a sick day. We put up an out-of-office (OOO) message with the date of our return, a colleague’s contact information for urgent needs, and maybe even some details about the destination of our long-awaited vacation.
Same, I think it’s patronizing to talk people through their options as if they can’t make a decent choice without having their hand held every step of the way. There are plenty of people who can’t, of course, but I don’t think a long, verbose message is necessarily going to help.
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I have a dream today” Each year on the third Monday of January schools, federal offices, post office and banks across America close as we celebrate the birth, the life and the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.It is a time for the nation to remember the injustices that Dr. King fought.
If your auto reply messages give customers the ‘what next’ picture it will make customers feel that you as a brand can visualize their problem by putting in their shoes.
What to include in your out-of-office message. A good out-of-office email reply incorporates the following elements: The exact dates of your time off — If you are simply reactivating the message you used during your last time away, make sure you change the dates, and double-check to ensure they’re right.; The reason for your absence — Colleagues might still attempt …
“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.
I will return with a glowing tan on [insert date] and respond promptly to all emails. If your request is time sensitive, please email [insert name] at [insert email].
I can see how it would be annoying to some people, but at least it has a bit of personality to it. Maybe I’m just tired of sending so many rote emails in business speak, but I do find it kind of refreshing if only because it’s a different kind of artificiality than I’m used to.
In case of maternity leave, make sure that you set up a long-term out of office message.
Erin Ollila is a content strategist and writer who believes in the power of words and how a message can inform — and even transform — its intended audience. Reach out to her on Instagram at @ErinOllila, or visit her website erinollila.com.
My project is entirely phone based and we don’t have voicemail, either for the project line or individual staff lines. We used to, but we found we spent so much time returning voicemails and getting people’s voicemails that it led to us missing calls and going in an infinite loop.
I’m extremely busy watching Home Alone, Die Hard, and the 1994 Ninja Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Christmas Special on repeat until the new year.
I was always a little bit skittish about OOO’s in the pre-smartphone days. I don’t like the idea of announcing to the world that my house is going to be unoccupied all week.
I’ll be sure to reply to your message when I wade through my inbox upon my return. If your message is time-sensitive, please send an email to [Contact Name] at [contact email].
Are you always entertaining your colleagues with useless facts? That doesn’t need to stop just because you’re going on holidays.
So, not the literal first second I’m back at my desk. But as soon as I can, depending on where you land once I’ve taken a look at everything and set some priorities.
The reason I did it was that the first time I took maternity leave, I came back to thousands of irrelevant emails. It was a chore to sort through them, and finding the ones that were still relevant was like finding a needle in a haystack. And it wasn’t just a waste of *my* time – I often had to reach out to email senders only to hear that no further action was needed, so I was wasting their time too.