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While the above is almost certainly a dramatisation, getting your out-of-office message right over the holiday period is arguably as important as all other facets of business. Cashflow? Investments? Who needs ’em when you’ve got an auto-response that’ll make people chortle!
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(Obviously, it wouldn’t fly in all cultures, but I do think this should be more normalised.)
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Hi, I am currently attending a training session. As a result, my reply might take a bit longer than usual. I apologize for that. I will be able to respond in a more timely manner starting from [DATE].
I’m with you. It comes across as a bit scold-y, like chastising someone for emailing while you’re out and treating them as if their issues aren’t important.
I think that’s on the person who covered for you –presumably they are in your department. If I take care of a client for Fergus while he’s out, I let him know the problem that came in, solution, and any still pending information. Emailer emails Vickie. May not just forward the message that they sent to or received from me. Vickie gets these kinds of questions every day, doesn’t know it has anything to do with me, just answers the question. I get back, see the message, and may not realize Vickie has already handled it. That’s not Vickie’s fault. I think ENFP in Texas has it right above – before starting the work, you can ask the sender if they still need this.
For those new to the business world, your out-of-office message is the most common form of automation related to email. Once activated, it sends out a predetermined email message to anyone who emails you while you’re out, telling recipients exactly what they need to know.
Voice mail is a strictly worse medium than almost any alternative. You don’t get the opportunity to converse and ask questions back and forth like you do with a phone call; you can’t extract information efficiently from the message like you can with an email (the old “ugh, I have to listen to this entire message over again just to check one thing he said at the end” scenario).
If you’re in a rush or just not sure what to write use some of these out-of-office email examples in your next auto-response email message.
Same, and I leave this template in my settings so all I have to do is change the date. Simple, to the point, and no one can say they didn’t know what to do while I was out.
Not to mention, there are all sorts of oddball situations where you might wish you gave another option. No chance that a call from a big client, the CEO, or a supplier might get routed there? Not to mention enforcement agencies that are often “we sent the required notice to the contact info I was given” before they issue a citation or pull a license or tow the company van.
Not quite an OOO, but a former boss had an email signature that said she was doing field work so her email responses would be delayed.
Have you ever called a company’s support line just to be confronted with an unsympathetic and confusing attendant menu? Or tried to reach a representative, but pressing the “0” key does nothing?
The season of good cheer is upon us and you can feel the anticipation in the air. Most of us will be taking at least some vacation, and we all want to get the most out of our time away. So before you re-post your standard out-of-office reply, stop and ask yourself: will the way you’ve written the message really help you do just that?
I’m with you. It comes across as a bit scold-y, like chastising someone for emailing while you’re out and treating them as if their issues aren’t important.
This is one reason I rarely give a contact person. My company is terrible at communication, and not only could you easily be sent on a OOO chain, you could also be emailing someone who is out who didn’t even use OOO.