I’ve heard “please respond at *your* earliest convenience,” but never the other way around.
Set your out of office messages and determine who monitors division and department messages.
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Former boss used to put an OOO for EVERYTHING. Like, “I’m doing interviews today and will reply tomorrow.” Nothing was ever on fire so it could have indeed waited until tomorrow without the OOO – people probably wouldn’t have noticed.
That said, I do realize that I can’t just not use my phone at work. I’m surprised she has not been called on it by her coworkers yet!
If you see the Automatic Replies button, follow the steps to set up an automatic reply.
I’ll be back on [DAY OF WEEK], [DATE]. No explanations, no apologies, no promises to respond, no redirects to other colleagues. It works.
Hi, I’m out of the office. Thank you for getting in touch. We’ll get back to you within 8 business hours.
I will be checking email throughout the day and will try to respond to messages promptly (please flag urgent.
I’ll be back in front of my computer on [date] and will respond to your message then. If you require immediate assistance, please feel free to send an email to [Contact Name] at [contact email] so that they can help you out.
I will be out of the office for an extended period starting on (Starting date) until (End date).
Luckily for you, my colleague *Name* generously offered to cover for me. You can reach him/her at *email*.
You’re finally taking some time off of work. Sure, your holidays this year won’t be spent sunning in the tropics or scaling an ice-capped mountain as you might have hoped, but you’ve got big plans for taking some down time to rest, relax, and binge new shows on your favorite streaming service.
Creating a voicemail greeting might not be fun, but with the scripts I’ve shared, you should have an easier time. No need to practice time and time again — simply plug in your name, company title, and other details, then read it out loud to your phone’s voicemail greeting recorder. With a professional greeting, you’ll continue nurturing prospects even if you don’t pick up the phone.
When I return from a break, I talk to the people who have acted in my stead and get the rundown of what happened/what needs to still be done. That’s part of my whole “back to work triage”.
Website: https://www.garamgroup.com/tips-after-hours-business-voicemail-auto-attendant-greetings/
I thought it was funny but could never get away with using something like that at my org. I loved the “competent people who work for me” part – I make this joke all the time. We have some people who feel that they should have a manager personally attend to them and, at least in my case, my highly competent team is in the weeds of that work a lot more and are not rusty (like I am).
Goofy dad joke that doesn’t require changing with the calendar. “What do you call a cephalopod carved out of ice? COOLAMARI.” You’re set for at least three vacations on that one.