On the other hand, you can get more interesting or playful with subject lines such as:
Hello, Happy holidays! Thank you for your email; we are currently closed for the Easter holidays. It won’t be possible to respond to our email as I have limited access to the internet. But once I am back I will respond as quickly as usual. Kind Regards,
.
If you have a main email that customers use, set the email out of office message to reflect when you will return and if it is an emergency who they can reach.
Mine said this when I was in the hospital and I didn’t know if I’d be back in two weeks or six.
There are some places where the culture absolutely embraces this type of…expression so it may be that it works just fine.
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.
Carnegie Mellon's U.S. campuses observe 11 official holidays. The university is closed on these days, and all non-essential personnel are not expected to report to work. Regular, full-time staff members may also take up to three floating holidays per calendar year.
I just say “following my return to the office” because saying “as soon as possible” isn’t actually when I’m going to respond — I may have other priorities when I get back that take precedence over responding to a week old email that wasn’t important enough for them to contact my backup. That said, it doesn’t bother me when other people do it!
Don’t you worry: while I pretend to be Santa in front of my kids, my colleague, Hannah, will cover for me. Just email her at [email protected] if you need urgent assistance.
Hi! I will be out of the office this week. If you need immediate assistance while I’m away, please email (COLLEAGUE NAME).
I like that you can sometimes tell the team dynamics by the OOO. In my experience I’ve seen that: – “If you need something, contact a member of my team” = I trust my crew and probably would prefer you email them all the time, TBH. – “If you need something, contact my boss” = I don’t trust my team and think my work is #higherlevel, OR my boss is a micromanager. – “If you need something, text me” = I hate my boss and don’t trust them to handle my work OR I think I’m very important and the company can’t function without me.
Hi and thank you for your message. I’ll be out of the office on [DATE]. Please contact my manager, [EMAIL] for assistance.
So far it only works for texts, and both my customized reply and the URGENT (annoying) language is sent back with every auto-text. Phone calls are NOT answered unless I let my routine vm pick it up, which I will. If I turn off the phone, it does not work (which would be great if it did, like an auto-email) and if I turn my phone off and on, I must RE-SET the DND. Still better than nothing. I have a 7plus
I mean, sometimes I put up an OOO because I’m on vacation and not checking email. Sometimes I put one up because I’m travelling for work and will only have sporadic access to my laptop, but might get to check once or twice a day. In my role, it’s important to make that distinction. Maybe it’s not so important for other people.
If you work in an international setting, you should eventually prepare an out-of-office message in English to notify people of your absence and tell the recipient who to contact in case they need an immediate response.
She’s been with our org for 32 years, haha. And our departmental email policy for the last at least eight of them has been “check your email at least twice a day.” Definitely no expectations of a 15 minute turnaround.
21. "Hello, you've reached [your name, the office of X company]. The team is currently out of the office, but we'll be back on [date] stuffed with good food and eager to speak with you. Leave your name, number, and — if you're so inclined — your favorite [holiday dish, Thanksgiving tradition, etc.]"