Loads of translators work freelance because it’s very easy to do from home, so yeah I’d not expect then to be standardised. I’ve received English and native language replies, but never both.
Working from home? Try these OOO messages to let people know you’re taking a break. 16. “I’ll get back to you once I’m back from my long-awaited trip to the fridge.”
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'I’m away from my desk at the moment but will respond the moment they give me a desk' (Credit: Getty Images)
There’s a grim, apologetic vibe to these messages — I’m sorry I’m taking time for myself but I’ll try to check in on occasion! They’re a vivid reflection of a work culture that valorizes constant productivity and the near-total overlap of work and life. But they’re also do a terrible job of what they’re intended to do, e.g., set realistic expectations for both sender and recipient. A vague OOO message traps both parties in an uncomfortable liminal space where both productivity and rest go to die. The original sender is left unsure if they’ll be getting a timely response or a whether the email will go ignored for a time or forever. The original recipient has taken what is a rock solid excuse (time off) and cheapened it, offering a backdoor for email guilt to creep in.
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!
I personally like it. Of course, the emails that I’ve seen still say what to do if the matter is urgent and needs to be handled now — but as a person who gets 100+ emails a day, whether I tell you I’m deleting all of them when I get back or not — if it is in the thousands of emails that might accumulate in the time I am off, I’m not going to see it or respond. Better that I tell you now that you are going to have to resend the email after I return (or get my backup to handle it now) than you sit around waiting for a response that is never going to come. It is actually pretty common in my industry for any absence two weeks or more.
Ryan Reynolds (of Deadpool fame) doesn't just act. But you probably knew that. Why? Because he has some wildly funny out of office replies that went viral after he and good ol' Jimmy Fallon invited viewers to send Ryan an email.
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Here’s my pet peeve: OOOs that specifically state the person “won’t have access to email.” It contributes to this pervasive idea that an employee who might technically be ABLE to check her work email while OOO better have a damn good reason why she won’t be doing so. Which calls back to the reason someone’s OOO is no one else’s business. Whether you’re OOO because you’re on your honeymoon, having your gall bladder removed, or robbing a bank, OOO should automatically imply unavailability for work stuff. Full stop.
Not being in the office doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t develop your brand’s reputation. To do this, offer a link to some reviews about your product. In doing this, you drive traffic to your website and leave a good impression of your company… providing the reviews are positive. Here’s an example of this method:
If you’re leaving a company for good, use your favourite book or film to make someone smile – like ‘Master gave Dobby a sock… Dobby is a free elf’ or ‘Hasta la vista, baby’... but this type of message really depends on the kind of impression you want to leave them with and who the message will go out to. Don’t forget, you might need them for references! Traditional offices no longer cater for modern business needs and provide a very limited service offering. In consequence, businesses have slowly been making the transition to more flexible working arrangements, such as employees working remotely part-time or benefitting from flexi-hours. We... 7 ways to make someone’s day at work while social distancing
I am currently on travel in Ethiopia. If you’d like to contact me, please write to me in Ethiopian (Amharic).
I say this as someone who used to have a chronic problem keeping up with my personal voicemails. But I got voicemail transcription set up so I can read them now, because just ignoring important phone calls has consequences. I can’t imagine trying to just duck them in a professional job where I had a phone number, and therefore an expectation that people can call me!
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Anybody that might need me that quickly should have access to my calendar and can see I’m in a meeting. Anybody that can’t see my calendar shouldn’t expect a reply in an hour unless I’d said I’d be available or something.
Take note of this holiday checklist so you are prepared for the Christmas wind down. Remember that your office is your and your employees’ second home. Having these precautions done will give everyone a stress-free holiday break.
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