This article originally appeared on The Daily Muse and is reprinted with permission.
I get really annoyed at people that don’t have put up OOO messages and I am left wondering if they are out or just ignoring me. I collaborated with a woman who was out frequently but never put an OOO. She also got very prickly if she felt you were going around her. So anytime we didn’t get a response from her, we had to go through this guessing game of “do we wait, do we talk to someone else, how important is our request.” I was glad when she moved on.
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An easy win here is to be specific about your out-of-office dates, or to be upbeat about why you are out of office.
I pretty much never pay attention to out of office replies, just note if there is one. If I really need something urgently I’ll look to see if there’s another person’s contact info, but it’s rarely that urgent. I might also look for a return date, if that matters to me. It would annoy me if I had to wade through a wall of text to find either of those things.
Now make your email unique when you are out for traveling for work and be a standard part of the job. If you are traveling to a conference you can set up your email.
Don’t forget all our offices will be closed for the Public Holidays this Thursday date. [Company name] will be closed to celebrate [Holiday name] and we will resume normal operation on [date]
Note: Not all email clients show animated gifs. Some may show only the first slide.
Out of Office Out of Office Friday, Nov 8th – Friday, Nov 9thI’m Out Til Monday the 12th
If you need any help, I'm sure that contacting anyone else in the company will also be a waste of time.
Using email copy creatively can go miles when using an autoresponder. The mundane, repetitive language is the number one reason behind people sighing and not the unavailability of the concerned person. Getting creative with the email copy can de-escalate the frustration and even put a smile on their face. Everyone needs a break, and words can convey it beautifully like this example.
Here is a good example of setting a queue message when all your support agents are busy.
The office is closed today for the Public Holiday. We will resume normal office hours from tomorrow morning. Enjoy your day off!
I worked for a federal contractor back during the Great Recession when government offices were shut down/working with a skeleton crew. I still remember getting OOOs from almost every email address in the agency we worked at explaining they were on furlough & to contact one specific person if the issue was urgent. We all assumed this poor person was hiding under her desk, rocking back & forth, with her head in her hands.
Education Details: Sending one of this autoresponder out of office email message examples before you go on a vacation will help lessen the burden of responding to angry client emails. FORMAL TEMPLATE #1 : Out of Office Message Example. Hi, Thank you for your email. I’m out of the office, with no email access, until [Date of Return]. on vacation out of office
COMPLETELY agree. Every time I see an OOO for a two-hour doctor’s appointment I have to fight the urge to reply with “How much are you paid?” because I know there is no scenario in which I would have to explain myself if I don’t answer an email for a few hours and if you are that important you better make a LOT more than I do.
These work voicemail greetings are for the work phone that you and only you use. They’re highly effective because they help you establish a relationship straight from the voicemail. Or they help you share an important update in a simple, straightforward way.
Thank you for your message. I’m on sick leave and will get back to you as soon as I return to the office.