This used to drive my supervisor crazy, she’d email me “it looks like your OOO is still on.” I had to explain the rationale a few times before she understood.
I do enjoy the transcribing of voicemails, so a lot of times I read that (and try to translate the weird interpretation from Siri). I rarely need to actually listen to the voicemail.
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3.) Добро пожаловать в Консультационное Агентство «Вася Пупкин и Ко». Наши офисы в Берлине в настоящее время закрыты на период праздников. Вы можете связаться с нами в рабочие дни с понедельника по пятницу с 9 утра до 12.00, и с 13.00 до 6 часов вечера. По общим вопросам вы также можете обратиться к нам по электронной почте [email protected]. Большое спасибо. Мы желаем вам хорошего дня – ваше Консультационное Агентство «Вася Пупкин и Ко».
I once emailed someone I barely knew to check on some materials he was supposed to send my boss and I received an auto-reply letting the world know that he was away in Vegas with his “boyz” to celebrate his divorce. I still don’t know why he felt this was important to share with business contacts. “I’m away for the week” was all the information I needed.
Something that actually was an issue with my employer ages ago: at one time there was a policy that out of office would only go to internal people, and nothing would be sent at all to anyone external. Apparently this was felt necessary in order to mitigate risk of burglary, so people wouldn’t know that “John Winchester has gone on a hunting trip” and that his house was empty.
That said, I think it is the kind of thing that is funny with the right people and in the right situation. But an out of office message is an autosend situation, so the email system cannot actually assess if it is appropriate or if the person receiving it will find it amusing, or unprofessional, or apparently even condescending. So while it is a hilarious message for a joke, it would not be a good idea in a professional setting!
An out of office message shows your professionalism by informing others of your unavailability. Such messages generally include an apology for the inconvenience, a reason for not replying right away, the time the receiver can expect a response and an alternative person they can contact if there is something urgent.
I’m on vacation until July 18th. If you need to reach me, here’s what you’ll need to do: First, travel to my homeland of Florida. Climb to the highest peak of the tallest mountain. Find a rare flower (no specifics, of course... It’d be cheating). Put the flower back, because as the old hiking rule goes, “Leave everything as you found it.”
Two to three sentences is usually enough to tell recipients everything they need to know.
If you work with regular clients, then you may want to send holiday messages to clients to help maintain these important relationships. Reminding clients that you are there for them through these brief messages can go a long way to creating goodwill with these pivotal connections.
Dear Customers. We, the employees of this office are going to take our days off from the 25th of December to the 5th of January 20XX in lieu of Christmas and winter vacations. Your needs are Supreme to us so one of our representatives will be available 24/7 in case of answering any query you may have. Feel free to contact us on the following number [X].
Over time I’ve pared my OOO messages down more and more to the absolutely essential. The main issue was whether to use first or third person. Either is fine, but it comes up because it’s nice to have the name of the OOO person in front of one’s eyes if one sends a lot of email and then finds stray OOO messages among the mail … “hmm, what was THIS one in response to…?”. – “I am absent the office today and will attend to your message by Monday, August 17.” – “I am traveling during the week of Monday, July 1 and may be unable to respond to your message immediately. For issues concerning the [operational project in remote area], please contact [co-worker]” – “Tamarack Fireweed is on leave from [date] to [date] with reduced access to email. Urgent messages can be routed as follows: For project X, please contact [person1]. For project Y please contact [person2]. For questions about [academic program] please write to [general alias]. “
Unfortunately I didn’t save it, but I once received of office reply that included a synopsis of the “comedic novel” they were working on during their time off.
In 2013, researcher danah boyd wrote a LinkedIn blog post advocating for the nuclear option which was framed in the piece as an “email sabbatical.” Coming back to an empty inbox after a vacation is should be a break from the insanity, not a procrastination of it,” boyd wrote of the decision to send everything to the trash.
Website: https://www.exclaimer.com/email-signature-handbook/10091-top-10-christmas-email-signature-tips
You can also schedule your auto replies ahead to send at a specific time for a set it and forget it solution.
And although my colleague had mixed feelings about her own parents joining that population in Florida, she couldn’t be too upset when her dad suggested flying down from Boston for a Red Sox spring training game.