What we need in our work communication is not more professional politeness or less formal, chat-based messaging applications like Slack. We need honesty. The problem is that we’ve conditioned ourselves to see honesty as self-indulgent or disrespectful. I’d argue the opposite is true. Honesty, even if it’s a bit more inconvenient for all parties in the moment, pays dividends later. It builds trust. When my partner Anne Helen Petersen and I were interviewing people for our forthcoming book on remote work, a frequent lament from both middle managers and workers was that they didn’t feel like they knew how to succeed in their jobs; that they were guessing what their superiors and coworkers wanted and, even when they asked, they didn’t quite trust the responses they got back.
I worked at an office where we used OOO messages on voicemail pretty regularly and if we forgot to change the message, our callers were quick to tell us the outgoing message was outdated. That end date feature would have been a big help for us! A local council in Wales needed to get a road sign translated into Welsh. (All official signs in Wales have to be in both English and Welsh.) They got an out of office message in Welsh from the translator they contacted, assumed that was the translation and printed the out of office message on the sign. They didn’t realise their mistake till a Welsh speaker pointed it out…
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Thank you for calling [Company Name]; we are currently closed in observance of [holiday name]. We will return on [Date] at 8 AM Eastern Time. If you would like to reach our Dial by Name Directory, please press 1. To leave a voicemail, please press 2. A representative will contact you upon our return. To repeat this menu, please press the # key. [If no response after a few seconds] Goodbye. Voicemail Greeting
“Hello, I am out of the office from [date] to [date] for a family vacation. I have limited access to phone and will try to reply to you upon my return. If you need any urgent information, please contact [person] at [phone number]. Happy holidays!”
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Remember that it’s important to choose the tone of your message based on the final recipient.
Here is a good example of setting a queue message when all your support agents are busy.
“For an enjoyable Christmas holiday, I wish the Symantec office holiday wishes for a superb holiday. I wish the staff have lots of fun filled moments and excitement during their holidays. Have a happy holiday period.” Popular Messages:Office Closed for Holiday MessageGOOD FRIDAY OUT OF OFFICE MESSAGEoffice christmas greetingsout of office christmas messageoffice will be closed messageout of office message for good fridayoffice closed for holiday email message Recent Posts Happy World Animal Day 2021 Wishes, Messages, Quotes and Status Happy Gandhi Jayanti Wishes | Gandhi Jayanti Messages – 2 October Famous Slogans of Mahatma Gandhi – Catchy Gandhi Jayanti Slogans International Coffee Day Greetings Messages and Wishes – 1st October National Boyfriend Day: Boyfriend Love Messages and Wishes
But for employees at Daimler things are a little different. Email these people while they are on holiday and you will get a message like this:
Use this response if you’re in a millennial workforce or you want to seem ‘down with the kids’. Or if you spend way too much time on Twitter. hitting your inbox between [date] and [date]; got sent to you unusually quickly and; is the same response no matter how many times you email;
I’ll be on maternity leave from [DATE] until [DATE]. For general inquiries about [DEPARTMENT/ROLE], please email [CONTACT NAME]. If this isn’t time sensitive, feel free to resend this email in [MONTH] once I’m regularly checking emails again. All the best.
Since I’m out of the office for the Thanksgiving weekend, I’ll respond to your email with a list of 10 things I’m thankful for: Copiers that collate Co-workers that brew more coffee when they empty the pot Donuts on Mondays AND Fridays When IT surprised me with a new laptop AND remembered to transfer my files When You-Know-Who died at the end of book 7 Dry-erase boards that actually erase The brave soul who cleaned out the refrigerator When I’m early to an all-staff meeting and score a table near the door HR finally sent a memo telling people to STOP clipping their nails at their desk OOO autoresponders
An old boss had a pet peeve about this so I became very conscious of making sure that I listed out who to contact on what day… before the group email. So it looked something like this:
If you want your message to be formal, avoid using contracted forms such as I’m and I’ll as well as informal or casual language. It’s also a good idea to start your message with an expression of thanks like: If your audience isn’t from your work environment, you could take a risk with something more fun and personalised:
An out of office message shows your professionalism by informing others of your unavailability. Such messages generally include an apology for the inconvenience, a reason for not replying right away, the time the receiver can expect a response and an alternative person they can contact if there is something urgent.
Work-Life BalanceHow to Write an Out-of-Office Message During the COVID-19 Pandemic—Plus Examples!
The main thing to equivocate over for this sort of response is what details to include as a backup contact method. If your line of work means clients might need to urgently contact you, a mobile number might be appropriate, or if you’re lucky enough to have an assistant (must be nice), you can list their contact details.