This is something I recommend doing only after you understand the dynamics of your workplace and your clientele. If it falls under the “okay” category, this unapologetically real out of office email can be a talking point when you return to your cubicle. It’s a short, simple, and sweet yet savage email. You can tweak the wording to write a bit of a diplomatic message based on your organization.
My snarky colleague sure did in his out-of-office message below. We send thank-you letters in response to holiday gifts, so it's only natural to expect the same gesture in our work inboxes …
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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.
It definitely sounds like something my boss would write and I laughed at it. In our work, everyone thinks that they’re a special emergency all the time. Stopping to think “if I don’t have this in the next two days what will the actual consequences be” is a thing that should happen more but doesn’t.
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I do typically come back to hundreds of emails, and I prioritize what to read – things from my boss/leadership are first, followed by communication from my direct reports. I also sort them by conversation thread and read the end of them first, which reduces the burden.
There was a lot of pushback on this, discussion about how big a risk was that really anyway, people saying that John could word his out of office in such a way that people didn’t have to know he was actually away, and if something really was an emergency people would like to know that they have the opportunity to “direct queries to Sam or Dean” so they could be actioned, or make the judgement call that something could wait for John to return.
Based on the nature of duties and/or unexpected developments, some non-exempt staff members who are unable to leave early may take off alternate hours during that work week (at days and times designated by their supervisors). If operational demands require that exempt staff members be present after 2 p.m., the possibility of alternative time off will be determined by the employee's supervisor.
There is no solution work with this method. However, you can set voice message and send all unknown numbers to voice message, iPhone Settings > Phone > Silence unknown callers > Turn ON, See details here: https://mashtips.com/block-spam-calls-unknown-callers-iphone/
Our office will be closed today for the [holiday name]. We will reopen tomorrow morning at [time].
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Are you going on leave or vacation, or perhaps you are sick or traveling to remote areas or attending an event that would prevent you from responding to emails as fast as you normally do; this set of out-of-office email examples will guide you on how to create your own out-of-office email autoresponder:
“For the Symantec office, I send holiday wishes for the employees’ holiday out of office. I wish all the employees have lots of fun and adventure during the recreational holiday period. Have a happy holiday.”
Finally, if leaving a private mobile phone feels like revealing too much, you can instruct your customers to contact you via email with the “URGENT” referenced in its subject:
Over Twitter DMs, one woman sent me her OOO messages from when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. The messages — composed while she was undergoing chemotherapy treatments and recovering from surgery — were detailed and unique. They offered touches of humor, honesty, details about her treatment schedules and set expectations for others trying to reach her. She offered alternative contact options for potential emailers to make sure urgent requests didn’t fall through the cracks but offered a dose or reality as well. I particularly appreciated this line:
Right?! If it’s a 3 day retreat, that’s one thing. But not being around for an hour or two shouldn’t be any kind of BIG DEAL.
Try this out with your colleagues or share it with colleagues/clients headed off on a vacation to send them off in style: