Unfortunately, I will not be able/ delayed in answering your e-mail till 23rd Nov.
Right, Outlook has that auto-display of OOO messages, so at least I know so-and-so won’t be seeing it for days and I either adjust expectations accordingly or I just email someone else.
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If their message is urgent or they’d like to contact someone else instead, you can let them know what to do.
Top of the iceberg though. Oh, and she also works with external contacts, including prospective clients.
The one I’ve always wished I was brave enough to write was the one I once got which simply said:
Thanks for your email. I’m currently attending [insert event, conference etc here], and will return on [date of return].
Set your automatic out of office reply under the Outside My Organization tab. This is for people outside your company such as clients and suppliers. You can copy what you typed in for Inside My Organization or you can put something else for people outside your organization. You can even untick the “Auto-reply…” box if you don’t want to send them an automatic reply while you’re away.
Maybe I'm over-reading your advice or observations here, but, like, being straightforward and honest without being deliberately blunt or getting in your bon mots is basically the expectation at most of the companies I've worked at. Professional politeness is fine, and good, actually, as long as it's not a cover for other, less praiseworthy behaviors, and what constitutes "important" is going to vary wildly, depending on whose boss is the one assigning the tasks — my boss may not care that an employee's access to a system gets delayed by a week or two, but the employee whose sales are dependent on having access to that system certainly does, for entirely understandable reasons. This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. Please turn on JavaScript or unblock scripts Home Buying 101 First Time Homebuyer Experienced Homebuyer Home Loan Process Refinance 101 Cash-Out Refinance Consolidate Debt Lower Your Monthly Payments Reduce Mortgage Insurance Higher Loan-to-Value Loans FHA Insured Conventional Home loans VA Home Loans USDA loans 203k Approved to Move Loan Officers Customer Hub FAQs Glossary Calculators Contact Us Mobile App Videos About Rates Blog > What to Say in Your Out-of-Office Email and Voice Messages When You Take Time Off What to Say in Your Out-of-Office Email and Voice Messages When You Take Time Off
Lastly, don’t forget to set your out-of-office greeting for your office and mobile phones while you’re out.
But perhaps we have it all wrong, and are simply enslaving ourselves further to technology by toiling over OOOs that are personality-packed, marketing-friendly perfection. Maybe we need to be altogether more standoffish if we want to make our OOOs really work for us? NYU Professor Meredith Broussard, who’s the author of Artificial Unintelligence: How Computers Misunderstand the World, takes the inspiration for her OOO from US writer, poet and children’s author E.B. White, who once turned down an invitation from President Eisenhower with the words “I must decline, for secret reasons”. Accordingly, Broussard’s OOO reads simply: “I am out of the office, for secret reasons.”
Bon voyage! You’re going on your holidays and you’re completely leaving the office behind. This is the perfect auto-response if you won’t be checking your emails the entire trip.
If you work in an industry (like PR, for example) where clients expect a response in a matter of moments or hours, you may need to set an out-of-office message if you’re absent for an afternoon. If you’re not sure whether you should set one, ask your boss or a coworker or consult your employee handbook.
Click the cog and select ‘Automatic replies’Select ‘Send automatic replies’Specify a time periodWrite your out of office emailConfirm other details and press ‘OK’
Confirm any expected deliveries will not be left at your door or unattended. Reschedule if necessary.
Now that you know what you should and shouldn’t include, how do you go about crafting the perfect out-of-office vacation message?
I’m the same. I don’t find it condescending, it’s kinda eye-rolly but also kinda charming! I get why it could be annoying if you need info quickly. But really, why not inject a little silliness into boilerplate messages like this, as long as it’s not disrespectful or really out of step with your field culture?
This article originally appeared on The Daily Muse and is reprinted with permission.