I once had a coworker who attempted to put up an OOO for all of busy season that basically said “I’m busy with urgent deadlines, so please expect a delay in my response.” I think she was asked to take it down.
The recipient may have filtering turned on that would reject the automatic reply;
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PS: We love our downtime and here at HAR, we're big believers everyone needs a vacay from work. Yes, even you—the social media junkies, the workaholics, the entrepreneurial diehards who accidentally (or "accidentally") take their smartphone into the shower.
4. Out of Office Template #4 For the Person Who Will Be 100% Out of Reach. Hello, Thanks for your email. I’m currently offline, returning on [date]. I’ll respond to your message then.
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.
This OoO has to be in the tech sector. I can see something like this as an (internal only) OoO at my workplace. I actually kinda love it. Yes it’s wordy but it also makes the recipient take a beat and consider the importance of their issue and where to go if needed. It will also cut down on interruptions to the “catch-all” person in the standard OoO, which is generally the Admin. I have always hated being the go-to on people’s OoOs. I spent more time trying to find info on what Urgent Emailer insisted was URGENT than I did doing any actual work. And the urgency was never really necessary.
If you set up a vacation reply but people say they are not getting the reply, it could be one of the following:
“When I got there and found out the bungee was 134 feet high I got terrible cold feet, but I felt that since I wrote it, I had to do it. So I did. It was terrifying and indeed a lesson on making bold claims in a public way!”
Oh heavens no. All I ask of an out of office is that it tells me when the person will be back (if known) and who I can contact in the interim.
I am the LW! It’s interesting, having Alison type out the OOO reply comes across less condescending than how it did in video. I’m sure it works for their office but it also says a lot, potentially, about their culture that she’d need to write something out like that in the first place! Usually “I’m OOO from X to X, please contact X for (reason)” should suffice.
Feel free to share some examples of auto-reply messages that you have used or such that you’ve received. Include those in the comments below, and we can have a chat.
Ha – I didn’t watch the video but still definitely get the condescension! It’s a LOT of extra explaining and direction when something like, “if you need immediate assistance, please contact Fergus at…” will do. In my opinion, cutesy stuff like this is mildly entertaining at the beginning but gets dumb/annoying shortly thereafter. Not just with OOO messages, but other instances where companies try to make being “cool/funny/laid back” parts of their brand in really obvious ways.
Don’t leave messages that come in outside of business hours hanging. Instead, let them know when they can expect a response. You’ve reached Maggie at HealthCorps. Our business hours are 8-5 EST and I am currently OOO. I will get back to you within the next business day, thanks!
I managed to get through 9-month contract roles at two different workplaces without ever setting up voicemail. Even though they were not phone-oriented workplaces I’m a little surprised I got away with that! Interestingly, in all that time only one person ever noticed and said something.
17) I cannot handle your emails until I return on mm/dd/yyyy. Please be patient and your mail will be deleted in the order it was received.