While a holiday is a great chance to disconnect and relax, you have a lot to take care of before taking a break. One of these things is setting up an auto-response system that sends out automated messages to everybody trying to call and message you when you are on leave. A thoughtful out of office message lets people know you cannot respond because you are on a holiday.
While the above is almost certainly a dramatisation, getting your out-of-office message right over the holiday period is arguably as important as all other facets of business. Cashflow? Investments? Who needs ’em when you’ve got an auto-response that’ll make people chortle!
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“To the Robotics Corp office, this mail is to inform all the staff and employees that the office will be closed for a week on the occasion of Durga Puja. Through this mail also, I send holiday wishes for all the employees on a superb recreational holiday period. Have a happy holiday.”
Open Outlook and click File in the menu bar. You can find this in the top left corner of your window.Then click Automatic Replies (Out of Office). The Automatic Replies window will then appear.
Visuals always work whether used in messages or elsewhere. In fact, communications that include images produce 650% higher engagement than text-only messages.
Setting an auto-response email is probably not the first thing on our mind before we jet off on holiday. But if we don’t do it, we risk eroding the trust between ourselves and our customers. It’s important to remember that response time is a non-verbal sign that shows clients and business partners how responsible and professional a company is.
In your case it’s actually related to your work! WHOMST would not like a cute pet picture, what a bonus?!
But really, I think people who know you WFH will get your meaning and people who don’t know you WFH won’t care or feel misled if they find out you really work from home.
Amanda works at HubSpot, and she came with a unique auto respondent that asked her contacts to guess where she is. To give background, she flew down to Boston to attend a Red Sox training game in the spring with her father. She chose to ask her contacts whether where they think she might be, and also this played some wonderful use of litotes here:
Website: https://www.wordexceltemplates.com/office-closed-for-holidays-email-template/
A professional email signature with contact information should do the trick in any case. Will you be monitoring your mailbox? – sometimes, when you are out of office, you may be able to check your incoming emails from time to time. If you can and do – include this information in your out of office message.
While you certainly don’t want to go on and on in your message, there is an opportunity to engage or educate while you’re away. Here are a few options to potentially include.
I often see people put public holiday notices in their email signatures a week or two in advance, especially where there are multiple affected dates in a row. We are a very date-dependent field, though.
The use of animated holiday email signatures creates a sense of memorability as it is more eye-catching and engaging. Ornaments and gifts with Santa and reindeers flying will take it up a notch and increase your chances of a unique email signature. Sometimes, a minor detail may be enough to make it amazing.
Hi, I will be away from my desk [MM/DD] until [MM/DD]. For urgent matters, you can contact [name] at [email] or [phone]
Hello! I am off for the weak on the beach, convincing myself that science is right when it says shark attacks are rare. I’ll be shore to get back to you, but your email may get swallowed by my inbox – or, you know, sharks. Please add all finished lists on the board as you would regularly and see [NAME] if you have any questions. If its pressing, send to [EMAIL]. If it’s not, and you’re just bored, here are some facts you might find interesting: ___
So many people emailed Ryan that Aviation Gin's servers crashed. Here's his July 2018 out of office message: