A few years ago we had a team meeting, with the typical agenda provided to all by our manager. One of the items was OOO and the manager’s name and dates of her upcoming vacation–of course, to give the team advance notice that she would be out. One of my colleagues did not know the acronym and was at first confused. His read: “Ooooh, Mary is on vacation for these dates and is so excited.” Which I am sure was the case, but . . . no, not exactly. Ha ha.
Yes! I once went through a chain of 4 people’s OOO and was finally directed back to the first person. It was our benefits broker and you can bet that was the year we decided maybe we should entertain other options before renewing our contract.
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That’s generally what happens in my office as well. I was handling a coworker’s portfolio for about three weeks while they were away, and we did a quick call both before (to outline the general workflow and division of responsibilities in that area) and after (so I could fill him in on any sensitive or outstanding issues that needed his attention) and it worked just fine. After the call, I forwarded the email threads for outstanding issues with a reply all so everyone involved knew Petrarch was back and handling the issue from here. Pay No Attention To The Man Behind The Curtain* June 3, 2021 at 2:01 pm
Oh you see, I do that on purpose. That way I can use the same OOO message internally and externally. Anyone within our company can find us in the global address book. Anyone outside our company who has done business with my department has my email address & my manager’s.
If you're anything like I am, you probably fall into team two. That doesn't leave a lot of time to get creative. But if you plan ahead, you might be able to craft some hilarity.
No matter what you’re using your SMS autoresponder for, there are a few pieces of best practice you should keep in mind when crafting an automated text message.
This used to drive my supervisor crazy, she’d email me “it looks like your OOO is still on.” I had to explain the rationale a few times before she understood.
An out of office message lets you keep people informed and tells them how to proceed in your absence. You can also select options for urgent matters within your out of office message.
I will be on leave returning Monday, August 10th. Please anticipate a delay in response. For urgent requests or escalations, please contact:
For some telephone systems, your technology partner will need to manage your “holiday” schedule.
Give them the dates. Don't leave your sender guessing. Let them know when you'll be out and the date you'll be back in the office — not when you're returning home.
When I’m back in the office and going through emails, I’ll sometimes send a note of “I’m catching up on my emails and saw you had XX question – did you still need help with that?” before doing any in-depth research.
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“It’s not about removing the OOO response altogether,” says Sadler, “but instead pausing to consider what details you’re including.” Continue Reading
If you have questions after reading the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) below, please contact your Human Resources consultant. Winter Break Schedule: FAQs
The use of humans is weirdly condescending to me, like people who say ‘doggo’ sincerely. It seems incredibly off at work.
However, I will be taking periodic breaks from binge-watching everything I’ve missed to check my email [once per day/every evening/occasionally] while I’m away.