President Eisenhower signing HR7786, changing Armistice Day to Veterans Day. From left: Alvin J. King, Wayne Richards, Arthur J. Connell, John T. Nation, Edward Rees, Richard L. Trombla, Howard W. Watts
It all boils down to honestly assessing your situation, deciding what degree of contact is appropriate, and then stating your intention clearly and succinctly.
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Start by recognizing your backup contacts for the time when you are out of the office. Make sure that, when needed, they can be available to help customers instead of you. Meeting with your co-workers and making everything clear should be one of your top priorities. The person who covers you while you are gone should not find that out by receiving an email out of nowhere. Be professional and plan everything properly — you are about to take a break, after all.
Season’s Greetings! It’s my favorite time of year, which means I’m currently out of the office chugging mugs of cocoa, stuffing my face with cookies, and attempting to fulfill my life-long goal of memorizing every single line of [FAVORITE HOLIDAY MOVIE]. I’ll be back in front of my computer on [DATE] and will respond to your message at that time. If you need immediate assistance, please send an email to [NAME] at [EMAIL] so that the other elves in this workshop can help you out. Happy ho-ho-holidays!
I just say that I’m out of the office. Practically, it makes no difference where this office is located.
When one of my colleagues is out of the office, he doesn't mess around. In fact, he's turned his auto-responses into a running series of commentary from fictional cartoon character Troy McClure.
Let your OOO response do some lead generation for you while you’re away, publicizing all of the exciting ways people can still get involved with your company’s community before you return. For example, you can encourage inquires to use your online booking or appointment system on your website, or you can tell them to subscribe to your newsletter to stay updated on upcoming offerings you’ll be announcing soon.
Wish you a very happy and blessed Thanksgiving! Wishing you the gift of faith and the blessing of hope this thanksgiving day! We gather on this day to be thankful for what we have, for the family we love, the friends we cherish, and for the blessings that will come. Happy Thanksgiving!
If you’re at a work event (e.g. a conference)If you’re off sickIf you’re working from a different location
In my absence for pre-sales support services, you can drop an email at [email protected] or reach out to (YOUR COLLEAGUE’SNAME)/[email protected]
A separate after-hours attendant menu can inform callers that your office is closed, state your business’ operating hours, and provide options that callers can immediately act upon. For example, you can direct them to your website for FAQs. If your business provides an account login page, remind your customers that they can login at any time to get general account information. In this situation, be proactive.
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.
Chances are you’ll be checking email while you’re on vacation. Almost two-thirds of travelers do, according to a poll by travel agency Travel Leaders Group. But just because you can’t unplug doesn’t mean your coworkers and clients need to know. In fact, you’d probably prefer that they leave you alone so you can enjoy your getaway on your own terms.
Other than that, I keep it simple like most folks here, but back in my younger days I had one that started something like “I am out of the office on vacation until (date). I will not be checking emails, voicemails, (work queue system), or generally thinking about this place at all…”
Additional resources: You might include a link to one of your webpages or a download if it provides information that can be useful to people while you are away.
I found the link…and they gave the incorrect sign to the person who approved it for printing as a gift when he retired! https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/man-responsible-welsh-translation-gaffe-15214716.amp
I thought it was funny but could never get away with using something like that at my org. I loved the “competent people who work for me” part – I make this joke all the time. We have some people who feel that they should have a manager personally attend to them and, at least in my case, my highly competent team is in the weeds of that work a lot more and are not rusty (like I am).