(Aside: at my job, when you open a new browser window, a random picture of employee pets pops up. It changes every time. I could just refresh all day long.)
If you’re not sure when you’ll return, don’t include dates. Simply direct them to a colleague.
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I’ll be on maternity leave from [DATE] until [DATE]. For general inquiries about [DEPARTMENT/ROLE], please email [CONTACT NAME]. If this isn’t time sensitive, feel free to resend this email in [MONTH] once I’m regularly checking emails again. All the best.
These messages are generally formal in nature and have the information about the unavailability of an individual and also the details of the person who can be contacted in his/her absence.
If you want your message to be formal, avoid using contracted forms such as I’m and I’ll as well as informal or casual language. It’s also a good idea to start your message with an expression of thanks like: If your audience isn’t from your work environment, you could take a risk with something more fun and personalised:
As you probably already know, sitting down all day at work can be harmful for your health – especially if you’re not exercising outside of work. But don’t worry, there are plenty of exercises designed for those who are struggling to combine a busy work life as well as a fitness regime. Is staff productivity impeded by a dated office design?
See, in my head, “as soon as possible” reads simply as a more formal way of saying “I will respond at my earliest convenience.” Like, either way, this person is getting back to you as soon as they can, whatever that actually means.
Unfortunately, I will not be able/ delayed in answering your e-mail till 23rd Nov.
When you’re out for the holidays, how can you express your thrill for the season without sounding, well, cheesy?
I’ll reply to your message promptly when I return. Should you require immediate assistance, please send an email to [contact name] at [contact email] in my absence.
YOU CAN PLAN A PRODUCTIVE DAY ON ONE SHEET OF PAPER.This sheet of paper is called The Daily Driver. And I want you to have it.Get The Daily Driver for FREE now!
Keeping It Real. I am currently out of the office on vacation. I know I’m supposed to say that I’ll have limited access to email and won’t be able to respond until I return, but that’s not true.
5.( عملائنا الكرام، سيتم إغلاق مكتبنا في الفترة ما بين 24 ديسمبر إلى 2 يناير. يمكنك الوصول إلينا كالمعتاد يوم الاثنين 5 يناير. نتمنى لكم ولعائلتكم عيد ميلاد سعيد وسنة جديد سعيدة وناجحة.
2. "Hi, you've reached [name] at [company]. If you need a quick response, please shoot me an email at [insert email address] and I'll be in touch by EOD tomorrow. If it's not urgent, leave me a message with your name and number. Have a great day."
Before we further discuss some of the examples of a good out of office message, decide for yourself what you want to get from it and what tone are you going to use.
When I worked in a federally-regulated industry that required drug testing, we always tended to say “our drug program” when we should have been saying, “drug abatement program.”
Smugness: it’s almost impossible to dodge in an OOO. London-based poet Rishi Dastidar, whose debut collection Ticker-Tape is billed as a “maximalist take on 21st Century living”, embraces this and lets his inner show-off have free rein by penning poems for his OOOs. “Yes, the tone of these poems is a little self-satisfied – but if you have to tell colleagues you are away, why not try and do it with a little style and pizzaz?” he points out, adding that it’s also one of the few mediums where you’re guaranteed an audience. Here’s how he explained he was away in France: