You can include the range of dates that you will be away, but ultimately the sender wants to know when they can reach you again.
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.)
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Happy holidays! I am currently out of the office, with no email access. I’ll be returning on (insert date) and will get back to you as soon as I can. Happy holidays!
Thanks for your message! I’m currently buried in snow and will get back to you once I’ve defrosted on January 2nd.
Above a certain level in my agency managers have to designate an official delegate when they’re out, which can easily result in out of office messages like what you’ve listed. Not the most elegant, but clear and useful!
I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m really tired of the ones that are basically “I’m in a meeting for an hour and I’ll check my messages when I return.”
My boss had this problem (outdated message), but it wasn’t his fault. No matter how many times he changed it, it kept reverting to the original message and dates. Even IT couldn’t figure it out.
Yeah, that bugs me because a) now I don’t know when you actually will be back, and b) leaves me unsure what other information in the message may also out of date
OMG. When I was in college, my mom got me a summer job at her office. All I did was send faxes, get faxes back, and put dates in a spreadsheet.
I think you talk to person X and ask them to cc you when they are dealing with things sent to them because of your OOO.
I’ve started using one that’s short/sweet but still has a little bit of JAZZ. I can’t take credit for it – I saw it on Twitter a few years ago. It’s been received well both inside and outside of my organization. Here it is. If it speaks to you, please yoink it and use it as you wish:
MOCK Interview Benefits High Paying Travel Jobs Sample Resume Objectives Sample Out Of Office Email Messages Best & Funny Graduation Quotes Microsoft Support Support Home Microsoft 365 Office Windows Surface Xbox Deals Buy Microsoft 365 Search Search for help Cancel
Just hang in there, the holiday break is near. Alas! You can finally disconnect, recharge, and relax.
holiday greetings for businessholiday wishes quotesinspirational holiday messages
9. "Hey, this is [your name]. Thanks for reaching out. I'm busy at the moment, but if you leave your name, number, and message, I'll return your call.”
Yeah, I do think some are pretty funny (eg tan lines) and some are not so terrible, but I honestly think she took them incredibly seriously and wasn’t trying to make her colleagues laugh as much as just ….. put out an air of “look how personable and authentic I am”. She also lamented that other people’s OOOs were “rigid” and why couldn’t people have fun?! Which again, sounds not so bad but was someone who would regularly ask prying inappropriate personal questions, so it came across less like “let’s loosen up” and more like “why won’t people tell me the specifics of why they’re off today, because I deserve to know”.
Pro tip: The first works well for both voicemail greetings and email responders, while the next two are most appropriate for emails.