I’m on a couple of mandatory company-wide email lists. None of these ever have pertinent information, but they’re required.
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!
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As a part time person, I now put an OOO on my non-work days since I was getting snarky comments about slow response times. (People don’t realize I’m part time and my position is not suited at all to it.) Dude, I didn’t respond because I don’t get paid to work on Fridays.
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The people who never change their holiday OOO message or only include half the information, if you’re lucky. I had one sent to me once that was along the lines of “I’m on holiday until August 12th and then again from August 24th.”
If you still need to reach me, you can email [email protected]. Or you can email my assistant at [email protected]. They can point you in the right direction.
You don’t need to say how long you’ll be away, adds Tim Reeves, principal of the ad agency Allen & Gerritsen. “That just makes you feel guilty, particularly if you’re taking a glorious two-week vacation,” he says. “Just say when you’ll be back. It feels way better.”
Careful. Holiday revelry and debauchery ahead. Proceed with caution (if you dare).
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)
A few years ago we had a team meeting, with the typical agenda provided to all by our manager. One of the items was OOO and the manager’s name and dates of her upcoming vacation–of course, to give the team advance notice that she would be out. One of my colleagues did not know the acronym and was at first confused. His read: “Ooooh, Mary is on vacation for these dates and is so excited.” Which I am sure was the case, but . . . no, not exactly. Ha ha.
Just a friendly reminder that we are closed today for the [Type of Holiday]. Hope you are having a wonderful day off! The office will be opened on [date and time] and we’ll be answering all your questions.
My OOO auto reply is fairly detailed. I have links to information for products I work with, an alternate point of contact for people to approach, etc. It’s really a CYA thing. What irks me about some OOO auto replies is when the person who is out has an alternate point of contact who is also out. Both are obvious planned absences, and both people are on the same team. Don’t they talk to one another about vacation??
One year my organization mistakenly left me off the phone directory. I made no attempt to correct that. The only people who could call me we’re those who knew my number; everyone else had to use email.
Ha reminds me of an admin here once who would leave like 10 bullet points on who to contact for what. We got a kick out of the point that was “for catering emergencies…contact…”.
For non-urgent inquiries during my absence, you can contact [Name] at [email] or [phone number], and they will be happy to assist.
If you are going on a vacation, try to surprise your customers with an Out of office message that appears on your behalf and tension free and enjoy the vacation.
If you work in an international setting, you should eventually prepare an out-of-office message in English to notify people of your absence and tell the recipient who to contact in case they need an immediate response.