When you’re away from the office, it’s important that people know where they can reach you. This is especially true for those who work with you on a regular basis. If you have an email address or phone number listed as “out of office,” then everyone knows how and when to contact you. But what should go into this note?
In the early 2000s I received an OOO which said “[very senior person] never reads his email, please resend your message to [his PA]”. Post navigation ← coworker loves to abuse robocallers, boss uses Facebook photos without permission, and more Ask a Manager in the media →
.
Top of the iceberg though. Oh, and she also works with external contacts, including prospective clients.
OMG if I got this OOO message I would pee my pants laughing! I think its brilliant! (But perhaps thats my weirdness popping out again… shoo shoo get back)
Have you sent a proper farewell email to the whole office, thanking everyone and wishing them well?
Literally just “Please note that (date) is a public holiday in (country). I will not be checking my inbox until (next working day).”
Automatic Emails. Automatic emails can be created whenever an action is performed within a DataPage such as a submission or a modification of a record. The two types of automatic emails are covered, acknowledgment emails and notification emails.
If people know you are on vacation or maternity leave, for instance, they are more likely to wait for your return to follow up. If you are at a work conference, however, they might still expect you to check your email or provide updates.
Hello, Happy holidays! Thank you for your email; we are currently closed for the Easter holidays. It won’t be possible to respond to our email as I have limited access to the internet. But once I am back I will respond as quickly as usual. Kind Regards,
I’m part time. I don’t use an out of office message, but I do have my hours in my signature, and sometimes include that information in the body of email. Many of the people I correspond with frequently need things turned around quickly – postings for public meetings need to go out so many days ahead of said meeting, and similar. They need to know when I’m available to get the work done!
I’m currently out of the office, enjoying some peanuts and Cracker Jacks with my family. Can you guess where I am? That’s okay, you’re busy.
Yeah, I have to agree. It’s a lot of explaining of things that are likely to be obvious to many people, as though they haven’t considered these options, but that they have to sit through anyway in order to get the information they need about who to contact. And the people who most need to listen to it probably won’t.
There's no shame in using Christmas to indulge in your childhood movie tastes, but there is shame in not sharing that adorable side of yourself when people are trying to reach you during the holidays.
If you want to add a humorous spin to your vacation responder email, here’s a great idea:
When it comes to professionalism, keeping things short and to the point is a good idea. What’s more, if you write a short auto-reply email, you don’t spend too much of the limited time you have left before your vacation.
Our sales and administration offices will be closed from 21st December until 2nd January 2019 ...
If you’re at a work event (e.g. a conference)If you’re off sickIf you’re working from a different location