We have all been there, hitting your head against the wall, trying to come up with something professional yet with a personal touch so you don’t sound like a robot. The faster you are done with it, the faster you can run away from work. Think think think!
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And while it may seem like a simple thing, if your out-of-office message is unclear or incomplete, it can cause problems while you’re out and when you return.
Yes. We do it that way in part because someone might be at a satellite office but out of OUR office and still be able to access emails, OR they might be completely offline at the beach. Saying you’re not answering emails can be helpful.
I’ve never had a funny / pithy OOO. Clearly I’m missing out! It’s literally, “Hi, I’m OOO from x to x, and will be returning x. Please contact Fergus if you need immediate assistance.” Maybe I should live a little!
Set your personal email out of office message to reflect when you will return and if it is an emergency who they can reach.
I ALWAYS forget to leave a voicemail response with the same info above! Don't be like me.
Interesting! I’d be unpleasantly surprised and tempted to scold them for not taking a proper break.
If you’re taking a few days off and want to respond only to urgent emails, this template would be a great fit.
When you update your voicemail or turn on your email client’s out-of-office greeting, there are three basic things you must share in your message: When you’re leaving, when you plan on responding to your messages upon returning, and who they can contact if they need to talk to someone right away.
OMG if I got this OOO message I would pee my pants laughing! I think its brilliant! (But perhaps thats my weirdness popping out again… shoo shoo get back)
I think the problem is that “at your earliest convenience” is a formulaic convention that uses explicit, almost exaggerated politeness to basically issue a stern direction, meaning “as soon as you possibly can”. When you turn it into “at my earliest convenience” it’s unclear if you mean “whenever it’s convenient for me to get to it” (what the words say) or “as soon as I possibly can” (what the meaning of the formulaic original is). Or else it sounds like you didn’t quite understand how “at your earliest convenience” works.
Unless you work in an industry well known for grownups being good at smart and bad at practical. Then, you do.
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.
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In the Settings panel, select “Automatic replies,” then click “Turn on automatic replies.”
When I return from a break, I talk to the people who have acted in my stead and get the rundown of what happened/what needs to still be done. That’s part of my whole “back to work triage”.