Here are some suggestions for what you should always include in your auto-reply emails when you are out of the office:
An easy win here is to be specific about your out-of-office dates, or to be upbeat about why you are out of office.
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Many in the MIT community will be taking vacation around the holidays and new year. If you’re in that group, you’ll want to set up automatic replies for your email and MITvoip phone. You can do this at work or at home. Read on for basic information and tips about auto-replies. Step-by-step instructions are available through the links provided.
If you need super-urgent assistance, you are more than welcome to parachute onto the island and meet me on the beach! If that isn’t possible, please contact Jane Smith at [email protected] or 971-314-6323.
If you’re using Gmail, you’ll find settings for out of office messages by clicking the cog icon on the main screen:
I’m tempted to make out a “SUPER DUPER HELPFUL COWORKER” certificate to hand to them.
Mike Vardy is a writer, speaker, productivity strategist, and founder of Productivityist. He is the author of The Front Nine: How to Start the Year You Want Anytime You Want, The Productivityist Playbook, and TimeCrafting: A Better Way to Get the Right Things Done, coming soon from Mango Publishing.
Q. Will students who want to enroll or receive information from various departments be able to talk with someone during winter break?
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.
I love this! I don’t think its annoying at all– its literally sharing the mission of your work.
“We all need breaks from time to time. Today I will be disconnecting from all things work, and going for a walk to smell the roses and soak in the sunshine.”
Does this only work with contacts saved in my phone? I’m trying to get an auto response to prospective clients whom I don’t have saved in my phone.
“Hi, I’m Troy McClure!” We’re not sure who wrote the original Troy McClure out of office message, but this version by Paul Sokol of Infusionsoft is a real gem.
With all that in mind, take a look at the following tips and tricks and six examples to make your automatic responses more effective:
Using autoresponder emails when you are not available at the office is a part of the professional communication between business associates. That said, you should be careful about the information you are sharing in your OOO messages.
Usually, you have the option ready, and all you have to do is go to your email settings. Once you are there, you will see something like Automatic Replies, or even Out of office AutoReply, as it is with Gmail:
I say I’m off-duty, or in non-working status, but I come from a DOD background. I no longer like to say out of the office. Unavailable is good too.