End your out-of-office response with a way your callers and emailers can stay connected on social media, if you use it for work. This is especially helpful if you keep active social media accounts (like Facebook or Snapchat) and expect calls from leads who may need some nurturing.
The example above (which comes from NY Times) may not take advantage of some of the tips we mentioned, but it’s great because it’s so short. Due to its absent-minded straightforwardness, such a message can be perceived as a real, non-automated reply — as if you were so busy that you only carved out a few seconds to type these five words.
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I came across a woman’s Maternity Leave OOO message which said “All emails will be deleted upon my return. If it still urgent after (return date), send another message.”
“To the Robotics Corp office, this mail is to inform all the staff and employees that the office will be closed for a week on the occasion of Durga Puja. Through this mail also, I send holiday wishes for all the employees on a superb recreational holiday period. Have a happy holiday.”
I will be checking email throughout the day and will try to respond to messages promptly (please flag urgent.
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When I worked at Nightmare Small Business(tm), a coworker went on maternity leave with (privately shared among the staff, but not with the owner) the intent to give her notice at the end rather than return. She left a very professional, concise and informative out of office message. The owner proceeded to log in to her email and change the message to include saccharine references to both the pregnancy/baby and how much she “missed” being away from clients and how excited she was to return soon.
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A client rings to tell you your out-of-office message has a typo in it, or, worse, is mind-numbingly boring. Suddenly you’re wrenched out of holiday mode and back into the throes of work, weeping as you log back into your email server to change your response as your shandy grows warm and flat.
Note: Sending automatic replies to anyone outside my organization will send your automatic reply to every email, including newsletters, advertisements, and potentially, junk email. If you want to send automatic replies to those outside your organization, we recommend choosing My contacts only.
If you want to add a humorous spin to your vacation responder email, here’s a great idea:
Work is important, and most of us go for a career, but we also need to have a break from time to time. Summer vacations are coming up, and you deserve to go soak up the sun on the beach for a while, or perhaps conquer a mountain top or two. And, if you are more of a skiing fan, you could just wait for the Winter to come. Another option is to simply stay at home and hibernate while binge-watching shows on Netflix. Even if you don’t have any particular plans, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take some time and disconnect from work for a while.
Here are some examples of effective text for out of office messages you can use to keep your clients notified of your absence and unavailability during a holiday.
We are encouraged to put up messages that say we have “limited access to email” and alternative contact for things like travel between offices and conferences. We’re technically working those days, but it may be hard to reach us.
I can see how they would annoy given her character at work though. There is something especially cruel about advocating for your boundaries while disrespecting other peoples.
While injecting a little humor into your vacation email message can sometimes be a good idea – depending on your company and contacts – avoid oversharing and keep it professional at all times.
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