Going on a vacation, feeling under the weather, celebrating the holidays, or just playing hooky from work? If so, you need to let your colleagues, clients, and leads know that you’re not available. There’s nothing worse than waiting for an urgent request, or even a quick and simple response, only to find out the person you’re trying to reach is out of work and completely unable to respond to you.
Like, I don’t feel confident enough to do it myself, but the OOO writer is probably a known Quirky Person and I admire that to an extent.
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That’s so weird! Email is the correct way to reach a teleworking person, that’s the worst place for an OOO message. Stick an OOO sign on your physical office door, by all means!
Your clients should know when they can expect a response and when you might be unavailable due to unforeseen circumstances.
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.
If you do not resend your email to the appropriate person as outlined above, it will not be read. I am not checking email during this time, and my emails are not being forwarded to someone else to check, either. Please also understand that it will take me some time to respond to you once I am back.
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Sorry to miss you. I wrapped up everything at the office and am off on vacation until [DAY OF WEEK], [DATE]. Anyway, if your question or favour can wait, great. If not, do me a favour and forward your email to [EMAIL] and you’ll be well-treated. Thanks. (Source: Futureofworking.com)
I’ll be sure to reply to your message when I wade through my inbox upon my return. If your message is time-sensitive, please send an email to [Contact Name] at [contact email].
Please note that all queries and orders posted at least [X] days before [starting date of the holidays] or during holidays will be processed immediately once we are back at the store.
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The root of that question, as pointed out in this New York Times article, is that taking vacation can be a bit emotionally conflicting.
Because I used to get phone calls that defaulted to, “I need the director”, I had my out of office mail set to:
[BUSINESS] is in no way endorsing or not endorsing said holiday, nor encouraging or discouraging employees of all demographic clusters to engage in celebrity activities. Thank you for your consideration during this festive or not-festive time.
I do typically come back to hundreds of emails, and I prioritize what to read – things from my boss/leadership are first, followed by communication from my direct reports. I also sort them by conversation thread and read the end of them first, which reduces the burden.
That’s what I always reasoned… better to annoy with too much information that saves hassle on the backend then be brief upfront and sentence people to OoO purgatory.
One of the real joys this holiday season is the opportunity to say thank you and wish you the very best for the new year. Warmest thoughts and best wishes for a wonderful holiday and a very happy new year. Wishing you the gifts of the season — Peace, Joy, Hope. Merry Christmas.