Further, given how poorly humor — especially sarcastic or snarky, even if mild — translates in text, you're running a moderate risk of pissing someone off through no fault of their own, for no reason other than to indulge yourself.
Welcome to the first blog in our new miniseries, ‘Big Little Things,’ where we highlight some of the smaller features and enhancements in Vtiger CRM ...
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John Whatsisname has retired. Please contact [insert name and email] for enquiries relating to [subjects], or myself at [email] for personal matters. Thank you to my colleagues and clients for your support over the years.
Inform your landlord that you will be closing down for the holiday – exact dates and timeAdvise your staff not to disclose to everyone your office is empty for the holidaysCancel or reschedule any possible deliveries or services (i.e. newspapers, postcards, packages, suppliers)Advise any business-related deliveries or clients about the close down datesAdvise the office cleaner of closure dates. Organise a thorough clean when office is emptySet your answer machine message with emergency contact messageSet an “out of office” auto-reply emailOrder supplies needed in January and ensure delivery isn’t during the closure period
Thank you for your email. Your credit card has been charged $5.99 for the first ten words and $1.99 for each additional word in your message. This message is automated because until [DATE] because I’m moving to [LOCATION]. That’s right. A cross country road trip from [CITY] to [CITY]. I’ll get back to you when we pull into the driveway.
7.( مرحبا بكم في مكتب محاماة .John Doe عذرا، إننا غير قادرين الآن على الرد شخصيا على مكالمتكم، لأنكم تتصلون بنا خلال عطلتنا السنوية. لا تترددوا في مراسلتنا على البريد الإلكتروني للمعلومات [email protected] - سنتصل بكم في أقرب وقت ممكن عند عودتنا. في الحالات العاجلة، يرجى الاتصال بمندوب مكتبنا. يمكنكم الاطلاع
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.
But really, I think people who know you WFH will get your meaning and people who don’t know you WFH won’t care or feel misled if they find out you really work from home.
Otherwise, a referral to your company’s general contact email or a simple ‘I’ll respond when I get back, stop bugging me’ should do the trick.
Even if I do have access to my email while I’m vacation, I typically do “I’m out of office with no access to email or voicemail until (date). For anything requiring immediate attention please contact (boss).” If I happen to check my email I can still forward the important ones, but otherwise hopefully people get the message that I will not be responding.
Oh my gosh, yes! This also drives me crazy. The game of emailing 15 people because they are all out and pointing to each other as their back up. Infuriating.
I had to explain to her that the email was still there, just like a voicemail, they’d get it on their return.
My husband does this with his phone (not a number he uses for work). My parents do this as well and I can’t figure out if it’s due to lack of tech skills or not wanting to deal with voicemails (I think it’s a combination). I had surgery a couple years ago and had to give the hospital all three numbers and then my brother an hour away as backup since he’s the only one besides me with functional voicemail.
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.
I only set my out of office if I’m going to be gone for more than one full day. Like, right now I don’t bother if I’m going to be out for one day, because in general the people who email me either know I’m out for a day or are unfazed by waiting 24 hours for a response. The last time I went out of office for a week, I came back to about 65 emails, 9 of which would have actually required my attention when I weeded through them. If I got a higher email volume, I’d do for a single day though.
Here’s one example out in the world, which jumpstarted me thinking about this topic:
After I tweeted this example, dozens of people sent me examples of OOO messages they’d set or particularly good examples they’d seen in the wild. One example from a boss (via a TikTok) who offers emailers a decision tree of sorts. “Option 1.) Wait it out. Ask yourself, ‘is this urgent and important?’ If not, take a beat…you and I will be better off with this expectation set now,” the email begins. This one stands out because it’s extremely detailed, manages expectations and also offers who to contact in different situations. It models good behavior of taking time off, but also gives the original sender a variety of option. Most importantly, the responder forces the original sender to assess whether this is actually an urgent request.