When you’re out for the holidays, how can you express your thrill for the season without sounding, well, cheesy?
It also doesn’t help that gmail has no ability to create an OOO schedule… like why can’t I have gmail turn on the message every day at 5pm, and turn it off every morning at 8am? We have the technology!
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I’ll be out of the office on vacation for the next week. I will probably see your message because I don’t know how to relax and will likely respond if I feel that I need to help in any way. Otherwise, I’ll get back to you when I return. Thanks! If you don’t feel like adding to my workload, please contact [name] at [email] or [phone] in the meantime.
“You have reached [Sandy and Bill’s] voice mail. Please leave your message after the beep so we can call you back if we want to.”
I will be out of the office this week. If you need immediate assistance while I’m away, please email (Contact Email Address).
(Depending on your email host, the process of setting up your out of office assistant may vary. You can find a guide on how to access your out of office settings in Outlook here.)
Anybody that might need me that quickly should have access to my calendar and can see I’m in a meeting. Anybody that can’t see my calendar shouldn’t expect a reply in an hour unless I’d said I’d be available or something.
“Depending on your company culture or your potential audience, you can craft a professional message or take a funny, creative approach,” according to Indeed.com.
If the visitors land your website after business hours or during holidays and do not get any response they might slip away. They could be important sales leads and losing them can impact your business.
However, when I email the backup person I also cc the original person. If the issue gets totally resolved, the original person is well aware. If the issue is not resolved, the original person can pick it up pretty easily.
Hi, I am currently in [COUNTRY]. My inbox didn’t join me on this trip, so I’ll be sure to answer your message as soon as I return stateside on [DAY OF WEEK], [DATE]. If your matter is urgent, please contact [EMAIL]. Thanks and happy holidays!
I hate the overshare. It drives me nuts. I’ve seen a lot lately that say essentially “After this crazy year I’m spending some much needed quality family time with Jane and the kids doing abc.” yada yada yada. It seems like overkill and way too familiar. You’re spending time with your family-that’s not noteworthy. Just say I’m out this date though this date. Contact person if you have something urgent.
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You don’t have to inform people why you are out of the office, adds Gugino Panté. “Because of privacy or safety issues, you may not want to state that you are on vacation or at a conference,” she says. “Simply stating that you are out of the office should be sufficient enough.”
Same, and I leave this template in my settings so all I have to do is change the date. Simple, to the point, and no one can say they didn’t know what to do while I was out.
First, here’s the out-of-message for people who don’t like watching video (although the person in the video is funny and really brings the message to life):
And that's it. Easy peasy, right? We know there are tons of genius out of office messages we missed, so if you've got a favorite don't forget to share it with us in the comments below!