As a side note, I put a similar message on my work and cell phones, and once I didn’t change the cell message back for nearly a year. (It was my personal cell number, and only my parents ever left messages.)
But really, I think people who know you WFH will get your meaning and people who don’t know you WFH won’t care or feel misled if they find out you really work from home.
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4. You snooze, you lose! The [holiday name] sale will end soon. Even though holiday sales last for quite long, some of us still have trouble finding something special for themselves or their loved ones.
Hi, I’ll be out of the office until [MM/DD]. I will probably see your message because I don’t know how to relax. I will likely respond if I feel that I need to help in any way.
Dude, my brain is not friends with my ears. It’s not psychological, my brain’s just less reliable than Siri at transcribing your voicemail. No one wants me calling them back explaining that I don’t handle the otter scriptorium inks when really they wanted a chocolate teapot.
(Aside: at my job, when you open a new browser window, a random picture of employee pets pops up. It changes every time. I could just refresh all day long.)
Here’s one example out in the world, which jumpstarted me thinking about this topic:
Website: https://www.statuswallpapers.com/4th-of-july-closed-sign-holiday-sign-for-workplace/
If yes, oops, you’ve missed her/him. I’m [David]. I’m an autoresponder. [Your Name] is out of the office. I’m all alone here. But it’s okay. After all, this is the only time of the year I’m around.
By the way, BizzyWeb will be closed November 26-27, December 24-25 and January 1. We promise to only use professional and appropriate out-of-office messages, and to reply as soon as we are back in the office. Happy Holidays from the Hive!
Over time I’ve pared my OOO messages down more and more to the absolutely essential. The main issue was whether to use first or third person. Either is fine, but it comes up because it’s nice to have the name of the OOO person in front of one’s eyes if one sends a lot of email and then finds stray OOO messages among the mail … “hmm, what was THIS one in response to…?”. – “I am absent the office today and will attend to your message by Monday, August 17.” – “I am traveling during the week of Monday, July 1 and may be unable to respond to your message immediately. For issues concerning the [operational project in remote area], please contact [co-worker]” – “Tamarack Fireweed is on leave from [date] to [date] with reduced access to email. Urgent messages can be routed as follows: For project X, please contact [person1]. For project Y please contact [person2]. For questions about [academic program] please write to [general alias]. “
Yeah, that’s not enough to stress over. Try coming back to tens of thousands after parental leave.
The United States Congress officially recognized the end of World War I when it passed a concurrent resolution on June 4, 1926, with these words:
First, take your pick: you can create a mellow, professional out of office email (your CEO will approve!) or, you can make an auto-reply that's a bit goofier.
The people who never change their holiday OOO message or only include half the information, if you’re lucky. I had one sent to me once that was along the lines of “I’m on holiday until August 12th and then again from August 24th.”
Not every vacation you take is going to leave you completely unreachable. For those days when you’re out of the office but are still checking and responding to email or phone calls, make sure your message explicitly states that people will still be able to reach you, and how:
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.