This website uses cookies to improve user experience. By clicking any link on this page, you are giving your consent for us to use cookies. Read more. Header Menu of the Robert Half Website Locations Time Header Menu of the Robert Half Website Locations Time Breadcrumb of the Robert Half Website The Robert Half Blog How to Craft an Effective Out-of-Office Message By Robert Half on February 2, 2021 at 11:45am
I guess my first instinct might be thinking it’s rude but having seen it a few times I do get it. It really makes sense for people who get dozens or hundreds of emails a day and are gone for extended periods of time. It’s more courteous to be up front about it than silently delete like some people said they do (though I get they maybe just didn’t realize they’d need to do that).
.
A) Trying not to roll my eyes at this year’s new batch of corny holiday movies (which all seem to follow the same plot)
Others like to take the opportunity to inject a little personality and make the reader smile, like our very own Rachael’s summertime out-of-office:
Because I used to get phone calls that defaulted to, “I need the director”, I had my out of office mail set to:
Being gone doesn’t mean you can’t still be doing good for the company. With a lead generation email, you can inspire action in the receiver. Consider using the end of your message to call for action. You can ask your customers to check out your products, read your blog, or maybe become a part of your affiliate program.
Right?! If it’s a 3 day retreat, that’s one thing. But not being around for an hour or two shouldn’t be any kind of BIG DEAL.
The autoresponder messages give information like how long the person you are reaching is unavailable and who else is the person in the absence and from when will the person be back available. Make sure the message is not too lengthy and is set up easily and conveniently understood by the email users. Try to manage your absence in such a way that the client doesn’t get affected and uninformed.
If you’re taking a sick leave, make them emphasize by describing how annoying your cold is. If you’re going on an adventure, tell your clients a little bit — just a little bit, don’t be bragging too much — about how excited you are to experience it. This will help build trust with your clients.
I work in a culture where even when you say you won’t have access to email, you are expected to be checking. I include this only on the internal auto-response, so that the people in my company know that when I say I won’t have access to email (which is also explained in the email), I mean it. Nothing else seems to work.
I work for a hospital, in a role unrelated to patient care. My first out of the office message was just my name and department. After a series of increasingly plaintive messages one evening, I added, “If you are calling about patient care, you have the wrong number.”
I’d side-eye if an OOO for a couple of days off said that, unless someone was in an unusually time-sensitive role. But if someone’s out for long enough that there’s an alternate contact provided, that’s long enough for them not to be wading through missed emails when they get back.
I followed all the steps listed and can’t make this work for my iPhone 6s. Any suggestions?
For immediate assistance, please contact me on my cell phone at 0912345678 or [email protected].
Anything worded like Option 1 would never fly at my workplace, exactly because of this. I have colleagues who complain to upper management if their non-urgent tech support questions (that a whole troubleshooting website already answers) don’t get an answer from me or my boss within half a day. And oh, did I mention our job is not actually tech support?
So here's a breakdown for how to write the perfect, most concise out-of-office message.
What would be annoying would be receiving multiple emails from me to see if the pet changes each time the OoO is triggered, along with follow-up emails from me inquiring about Fluffiekins’s adoption status. :-) Otherwise, this is BRILLIANT. And on brand.