Logging off will happen to every one of us, whether you're on vacation, have a family emergency, or need to attend a work conference. So we're going to put your mind at ease, creating a unique out of office message to greet your clients and take care of them until you return.
If people know you are on vacation or maternity leave, for instance, they are more likely to wait for your return to follow up. If you are at a work conference, however, they might still expect you to check your email or provide updates.
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8. Remote working (COVID-19) out of office replies. Remote working has become more prevalent due to the COVID-19 pandemic, therefore increasing the need for specific out of office replies.
So here's a breakdown for how to write the perfect, most concise out-of-office message.
In this image, you’re letting people know you’re OOO with a “Missing” notice on a milk carton. Genius. Just be careful — this sort of autoresponder is best for internal emails, not for autoresponders that get sent to prospects and clients.
I’ll return on [date] or after I watch [favorite holiday movie] one too many times (whichever comes first)—and will respond to your message at that time.
Boss would put up an OOO when attending an event off-site, but would still be answering their emails, which meant that I would get “Boss said you were the correct contact, can you help?” Inevitably, I would respond and, two hours later, Boss would too, cc-ing me on the original email in which they shared the exact same info I had earlier that day. It was MADDENING.
How about a little retro concrete poetry – you know, where you arrange your words on the screen to form an image of a palm tree or a pina colada?
If you’re out sick or caring for a loved one, you may not feel comfortable sharing the details. You can simply use words like “family situation” or “family matters,” which Smith says automatically garner some goodwill.
After I tweeted this example, dozens of people sent me examples of OOO messages they’d set or particularly good examples they’d seen in the wild. One example from a boss (via a TikTok) who offers emailers a decision tree of sorts. “Option 1.) Wait it out. Ask yourself, ‘is this urgent and important?’ If not, take a beat…you and I will be better off with this expectation set now,” the email begins. This one stands out because it’s extremely detailed, manages expectations and also offers who to contact in different situations. It models good behavior of taking time off, but also gives the original sender a variety of option. Most importantly, the responder forces the original sender to assess whether this is actually an urgent request.
Yes, with all the holiday planning of feasts and gifts and decorations, there is also the important task of drafting your holiday auto-responder text. You need to let your colleagues and clients know that you’ll be away from your desk celebrating the spirit of the season (and not reading their emails!).
If you're going to be away on medical leave for an illness or a medical procedure and you're going to be gone for a while recovering, you should add this in your out of office email (if you feel comfortable with it). The reason is so your contacts can accord you the needed privacy to heal. This is entirely optional though, if you don't feel comfortable including it, you can leave it out. Hello, Thank you for reaching out. I am currently out of the office on medical leave from September 7 to August 1. I'll be checking my emails intermittently, but in case of an emergency, please send an email to [email protected] or call her on 123-456-7890. Thank you for understanding. Jaden Kruger 7. Temporary Out-of-Office Email for Holidays
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To sweeten your wait, I am sending you this great article (hyperlink to your blog) that includes five books you should not miss this summer.
Note that the poaching email does not have any other contact details other than the leaver's - this is to try and funnel all enquiries to the leaver as part of the poaching plan! More tips here.
I will be out of the office from Nov 3rd to Nov 10th with no access to my emails.
My OOO messages are always pretty casual, and the last line in the list of “for X, contact Y” is always something like “for chili recipes, contact Z”.