"I'll be out of the office from Monday, 12/14, and will be back on Monday, 12/21."
It’s possible I might quote from some responses to this in an upcoming column, so please note if you don’t want me to do that with yours!
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Are you fully inspired by the creative out-of-office messages above? It’s time to write your own — your upcoming vacation depends on it. Try HubSpot’s OOO Email Generator if you’re feeling stuck, and remember, an out-of-office email doesn’t need to be boring. On the contrary, it should inform and entertain. You don’t want people hating on you because you took a much-needed break.
Thank you for your email. I am out of the office in observance of [holiday] with limited access to email and will return on [date]. Your message is very important to me, and I will respond as soon as possible. If you need immediate access, please contact [number].
If you want to make sure your message gets a response ASAP when I return, please send it on July 18th. I recommend using one of our sales automation tools to schedule it now, while you’re thinking about it. 5. “I know I’m supposed to say that I’ll have limited access to email, but...”
With all that in mind, take a look at the following tips and tricks and six examples to make your automatic responses more effective:
For immediate assistance, please contact my colleague [contact name] on [contact email/phone number] who should be able to help. Otherwise, I will respond to your email as soon as possible upon my return.
I think humor is fine (the hard-to-misunderstand kind), but definitely less than 100 words of it. “I’m out of the office returning Thursday June 10th. Please contact (shared mailbox email address) for support or call (person name) if the matter is urgent.”
Take note of this holiday checklist so you are prepared for the Christmas wind down. Remember that your office is your and your employees’ second home. Having these precautions done will give everyone a stress-free holiday break.
There’s a grim, apologetic vibe to these messages — I’m sorry I’m taking time for myself but I’ll try to check in on occasion! They’re a vivid reflection of a work culture that valorizes constant productivity and the near-total overlap of work and life. But they’re also do a terrible job of what they’re intended to do, e.g., set realistic expectations for both sender and recipient. A vague OOO message traps both parties in an uncomfortable liminal space where both productivity and rest go to die. The original sender is left unsure if they’ll be getting a timely response or a whether the email will go ignored for a time or forever. The original recipient has taken what is a rock solid excuse (time off) and cheapened it, offering a backdoor for email guilt to creep in.
I will be away from (Date) until (Return Date). For urgent matters, you can contact (Contact Person).
You’ll have options to set a “first day” and “last day,” or just “first day.” If you want things truly automated, picking a “last day” will trigger the autoresponder to automatically turn itself off the day after the selected date. Of course, in those instances when you’re unsure of your exact return date, it’s best to leave this open-ended. The “out of office” subject line is much less creative and scientific than say, a cold email subject line or a marketing email subject line. More often than not, they’re very plain and simple, like the following:
One of your European connections here. When I know the person covering me will also be away for part of the time I’m gone, I get another colleague to cover for those dates and put that in my OOO. Saying “Your e-mail will not be read” or similar is really off-putting. The youth worker at my church does this and I find it infuriating. Of course it won’t. That’s the point of a holiday. When I get an answer from someone who reads his e-mails on vacation I’m pleasantly surprised.
I can just about see having two OOOs: one for the actual leave time, and one for the first day you are back in the office, so people are aware you are digging yourself out of the emails and to please call or IM if it is time-sensitive.
I once left a kind of breezy, fun out of office message for “people inside my organization” that said the literal truth: “I am out of office this week at a mountain resort where I have paid many hundreds of dollars for someone to take my electronics away from me. I’ll get back to you Monday,” and a very normal and professional OOO for “people outside my organization.” Needless to say I returned to a message from a senior (but not, I stress, my boss or even on my team) colleague calling me out on it. People surely can make things their business.
Don’t be afraid to use a pop cultural reference that the audience would recognize. Instead of bemoaning your absence, they’ll have something fun and familiar to laugh at.
Here are the 25 best office closed for holiday message templates that are professional. ----- Our office will remain closed until the end of this week for Thanksgiving …