Yeah. The overly cute OOO message reminds me of the overly cute messages people used to leave on their answering machines back in the day. “Hi, this is Jim. Hello? *pause* Hello? Is anyone there? *pause* Just kidding, I’m the one who’s not here! Please leave a message after the beep.” or whatever. Like, it’s funny the first time, then it’s just annoying. Just let people know what they need to know.
(Obviously, it wouldn’t fly in all cultures, but I do think this should be more normalised.)
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I have a colleague who directs people to email an alternative email alias when she’s on leave. This alternative email alias? Yup goes to her. Don’t know why she does it. She’s also set a rule in her team that they have to answer each others’ phones of someone is away from their desk. Inevitably, the person answering the phone can’t help and tells the caller to send an email. It drives me up the wall.
While it’s vital that you get the main points across in any vacation email, brevity is important. If you’re looking for something a little more to-the-point, try this one:
A great out of office message can improve your business relationships, boost appointments and keep everything in check while you’re resting. The only trick is knowing how to write it. So what’s an out of office message and why do I need one? How to improve your out of office message Tip #1: Cover the essentials Tip #2: Redirect clients to your colleagues Tip #3: Be personal Tip #4: Promote your content Tip #5: Go for something light-hearted Tip #6: Know your limits Tip #7: Keep it spartan Conclusions
That said, I do realize that I can’t just not use my phone at work. I’m surprised she has not been called on it by her coworkers yet!
Sorry I missed you. I’ll be out of the office and slow to respond until after the break.
It’s funny, because when I turn off driving mode on my work iphone and look at the test messages coming in from my personal Samsung, it shows that the iPhone is sending the auto-replies, but I am not getting them on the Samsung??
Same, I think it’s patronizing to talk people through their options as if they can’t make a decent choice without having their hand held every step of the way. There are plenty of people who can’t, of course, but I don’t think a long, verbose message is necessarily going to help.
When one of my colleagues went on vacation, he sent an out-of-office message that was both clever and smart. First, he sent the recipient on an imaginary scavenger hunt to “the highest peak of the tallest mountain.” He used humorous absurdity to make it clear that he would not be checking email while he was away.
Hopefully they drop it because it doesn’t seem appropriate. If they don’t, I’d suggest something like Today is National Pirate Day, today is John Lennon birthday under your signature. It’s a fun random fact without being offensive and easy enough to do. Yet also a pain in the ass of course; )
Written by Aja Frost @ajavuu
3. Delayed response templates. If you are working, but can't reply to emails easily, make this clear in your out of office message. This will easily set a sender's response expectations.
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