Thank you for your message. I am currently out of the store on holidays, with no access to email. I will be returning on (insert date).
I apologise for this blunt email, yet feel I must warn customers and shareholders to divest yourself of any interests you hold in this company as the **** is about to hit the fan.
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Are you the office prankster? Are you also taking some time off to relax during lockdown? Everyone loves a cheeky out of office response. We’re big fans of the example below. You’ll have your whole office in hysterics.
Perhaps someone reached out to your marketing department regarding a press inquiry, guest post pitch, etc. You’ll want to be sure you’re ready with a response. Thanks for reaching out to NAPA marketing, someone will be in touch with you shortly. What can we help you with?
The power of the right voicemail greeting is the caller actually staying on the line to leave that contact information or gain access to an alternative contact point. The bottom line is that a business’s situation is likely to change often and rapidly, each of which need a unique and applicable voicemail greeting to cover the circumstances
You can show just how thrilled you are about your vacation while still providing an apology (of sorts... not really).
I worked at a public agency and would have different out-of-office messages for internal and external. I was chastised for having a “too informal” message- because the idiot talking to me didn’t realize me saying “I’ll be back next Tuesday for the big staff meeting” (or whatever) was just for co-workers and not the public. I told them but of course it didn’t matter. So from then on I always made sure to start my internal OOOs- “Hello Company X comrade…. blah.” So it was clear which was which. I am not able to respond to your email promptly because my husband died. I will not be accepting zoom invitations. Please do not respond by suggesting future alternative dates. I don’t know when I will be able to speak without crying.
Having easy access to your work even when you away from the office doesn’t mean you don’t take time to disconnect and relax for a while. You deserve to take a break, muting all the mailboxes and switching off your work phone for a couple of days or weeks. However, there is a lot you should put in place before going away from your office, in the true sense.
The worst one I ever received was from a coworker (senior to me, but not my manager) many years ago. I’ll paraphrase it as my memory isn’t great:
Intrado has sales and/or operations in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific, Latin America and South America. Intrado is controlled by affiliates of certain funds managed by Apollo Global Management, LLC. For more information, please call 1-800-841-9000.
I am currently on annual leave and I return to the office on Monday 21st September. I will reply to your email as soon as possible.
Just hang in there, the holiday break is near. Alas! You can finally disconnect, recharge, and relax.
Plus, he incorporated a delightful technique to let people know that if they really wanted him to read their emails, they should probably send them again after his return. Not only does that keep the sender accountable by saying, “If this is really important, you know when to reach me,” but it also helps him truly vacate his work while he’s away. And that’s hard 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.”
I had coworkers (and people up my chain of command) that did/do this. The thing all those people had/have in common is that they came from the military. So I always took it as a military thing. Curious if that particular coworker had a military background.
That makes sense. I normally say “Hi, I am out of the office on DATES. If you need to reach someone…….” or whatever.
The science fiction writer John Scalzi says “The failure mode of clever is asshole,” which seems to apply here.
A professional email signature with contact information should do the trick in any case. Will you be monitoring your mailbox? – sometimes, when you are out of office, you may be able to check your incoming emails from time to time. If you can and do – include this information in your out of office message.