I think it’s irritating and condescending and could have been funny if only one of the goofy elements was incorporated, instead of trying to make a cohesive comedy bit. It seems like the points should be reversed. Most urgent to least urgent. If I have a truly urgent issue I don’t want to read through that I should ask myself if it’s important and urgent. If it’s something that can wait, I’ll just expect a delay. If it’s not important or at least worth communicating, I wouldn’t be sending the email.
I am currently out of office on annual leave. I’ll get back to you straight away when I return on [end date]. If it’s urgent you can contact [contact’s name] on (contact’s email).
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Thanks for your email. I’m currently attending [insert event, conference etc here], and will return on [date of return].
If you are checking emails while you’re out and are responding slower than normal, state that, suggests Jill Gugino Panté, director of the Lerner Career Services Center at the University of Delaware. “If you don’t have access to email and can’t return messages, state that as well,” she says. “The clearer you are in your messaging, the better.”
It usually isn’t enough to just say you’re out and won’t be responding to messages. You’ve got to give people options for how they can get their issue or request resolved. One of the easiest wins here is to provide alternative contact information. That could mean providing your mobile number while you’re out, or, more commonly, providing the phone number and email of the colleague (or department) that will be covering while you’re away.
Professionally, I just try to be as boring as humanly possible, except in comments embedded in code.
We’re always busy. Sometimes we’re too busy even for work. This is where out of office message comes in.
Merry Christmas.Happy Hanukkah.Joyous Kwanzaa.Yuletide Greetings.Happy holidays.Joyeux Noël.Feliz Navidad.Seasons Greetings.
I used to know someone who had a snarky message about how “if this is an emergency, there are no actual emergencies in my field,” and then encouraged someone to Google for “goats in trees” and calm down. Yes, she was allowed do that in her office.
They only discovered this AFTER the Christmas rush. Thankfully there were no client meltdowns that year or it could have been a lot worse.
My colleagues have this weird habit of not using out of office messages, but instead, sending all staff or all manager emails before they go on vacation letting everyone know they’re going to be gone for x amount of time. It’s really odd. I do not do this.
Work-Life Balance6 Out-of-Office Templates for the Holidays That You Can Copy and Paste Now
Our Public Service Announcement: Each year, Americans leave 700 million DAYS of paid time off on the table. Stop and think about how many great out of office reply opportunities are missed because of this!
Free www.roberthalf.com https://www.roberthalf.com/blog/salaries-and-skills/vacation-time-how-to-craft-an-effective-out-of-office-message · What to include in your out-of-office message A good out-of-office email reply incorporates the following elements: The exact dates of your time off — If you are simply re-activating the message you used during your last time away, make sure you change the dates, and double-check to ensure they’re right.
See, if it’s a long period of leave and there’s an alternate contact provided, this is just… the sensible thing that should happen?
OMG if I got this OOO message I would pee my pants laughing! I think its brilliant! (But perhaps thats my weirdness popping out again… shoo shoo get back)
I didn’t like it either. The implication seems be be that the person can’t trust their colleagues to know what to do if they are not around.