My biggest pet peeve is the opposite – people who NEVER turn on their OOO! I’m not saying for a day but when they’re out for an extended period of time and I’m reaching out to get a deliverable.
My boss had this problem (outdated message), but it wasn’t his fault. No matter how many times he changed it, it kept reverting to the original message and dates. Even IT couldn’t figure it out.
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Ha! Maybe she was short-circuiting someone who would send an email and then come over to her desk 5 minutes later to “see if you got my email.”
Generally, people will indicate that they will reply to the email when they return.
Yup, that’s what I meant. Hearing or reading”Happy Halloween!!” in June is annoying.
When people leave first name contact only as if we’re supposed to know who Susan or Frank are..
We crafted some creative examples that you can use for your Out of office emails. Check them out. Basic Out of Office Email (just get it over with)Offer Something in Return (marketing never sleeps)Keep Them Engaged (you never know)A Little Brag Cannot Hurt (for the adventurous)
1. 1 The Scrooge. Hellooooo . . . You’ve reached the Ghost of Holidays Future. Whose future? Yours, of course! Let me show you what it looks like. Step this way.
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Others like to take the opportunity to inject a little personality and make the reader smile, like our very own Rachael’s summertime out-of-office:
Apologies, but I’m currently knee-deep in sushi and shrines on the other side of the world in Japan. I will be back to the usual tea and crumpets when I return to the office on Tuesday 30th May.
After X enjoyable years, I do not work at [company] any more. Please contact [insert name and email] for enquiries relating to [subjects], or myself at [email] for personal matters.
I’m so glad not to have to work at [insert company] any more that I am literally high on life.
Hi, I’ll be back on {MM/DD]. please contact [name] at [email] or [phone] if you really, really, really think it’s urgent. Otherwise, I’ll respond when I get back.
From the familiar to the more unexpected, peruse some of the different uses for automated text replies.
If you’re taking a few days off and want to respond only to urgent emails, this template would be a great fit.
The science fiction writer John Scalzi says “The failure mode of clever is asshole,” which seems to apply here.