I haven’t set up an OOO message since I got my first smartphone. My usual method is to glance at an incoming work email and forward it to the appropriate person, or maybe write a one-liner response saying I’m out and will answer next week.
Merry Christmas and thanks for your email! I’m taking a few days off to spend time with my family and friends, so I won’t be answering emails as quickly as usual. You can expect to hear back from me by (insert date).
.
Hello, this is Michael Smith from ABA English. Sorry I missed you. If you have a question about our products, please contact [email protected]. I will follow up once at home. Kind regards.
If you’re at a work event (e.g. a conference)If you’re off sickIf you’re working from a different location
4.) Welcome to John Doe Solutions. Because of an in-house event our secretariat is not available today. You are welcome to leave a message. We will be at your service again on monday. Thank you for your understanding.
But I also believe there’s meaningful power in the mundane cultural norms we set and practice. Email, for better or worse, makes up a large chunk of how knowledge workers communicate. So much of this communication is muddled by broken email habits and larger anxieties around performing productivity. We’re constantly nervous about asking too much of others or doing too little on behalf of our coworkers. But we’re also stuck in work patterns that force us to communicate constantly and normalize working and demanding things from colleagues at all hours.
When one of my colleagues is out of the office, he doesn't mess around. In fact, he's turned his auto-responses into a running series of commentary from fictional cartoon character Troy McClure.
“Greetings. I’m away on holidays for a week and unable to respond to your call/message. I will return to the office on Jan. 20 and respond to you at the earliest. Hope to talk to you soon.”
Q. Will students who stay on campus during winter break be impacted by this change?
Each time McClure makes an appearance in these out-of-office messages, he “speaks” on behalf of my colleague and alludes to the previous auto-responses in which he starred. It’s a mild form of self-deprecating humor — as if to say, “I know, I’m out of the office again” — made only funnier by the made-up teaser title included in the last line.
12 Examples of Professional Out of Office Emails – Permanent and Temporary Autoresponses
I’ll get back to you when I return to civilization. Or to an area with WiFi. Or to the office on May 10th. Whichever comes first.
Yup. Well, I do specify I will have “sporadic/intermittent” access to email or “no” access to email, because there is a difference. But short and sweet is the way to go.
This is the dream. If I could do this, I would! I hate voicemails (and the phone in general) so, so much!
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’d add a little more detail to your message just to make it clear what will happen in your inbox. “If I don’t hear otherwise, I’ll assume that your issue was handled by my colleague” or “Please cc me if you contact Jane, and I’ll check back in on my return if I think your issue is still open.”
A professional voicemail greeting is a vital component of your communication strategy. It can increase engagement with your clients, create rapport and leave a good first impression when you're currently not available to pick up the phone. Knowing the perfect words to include in your professional voicemail recording increases the chances of