What Should Your Vacation Message Include?A subject, with the dates you leave and returnWho to contact in an emergency (name, email, and phone number)Point of contact for non-urgent inquiries (name, email, and phone number)Keep Your Message Professional
Global stocks and bonds tumble as investors fret over spectre of ‘stagflation’Passive investment blamed for inflating stock market bubbleUK fuel crisis sparks drop in sterling over slowdown worriesWells Fargo to pay $37m over foreign exchange fraud allegationsPeloton bike loans peddled to eager Wall Street buyers
.
This message is automated because I won’t be in the office until [DATE]. I will get back to you as soon as possible when I’m back at the office.
In an instant, you feel a weight lifted from your shoulders, and a choir of angels sing Paul Kelly’s How to Make Gravy around you as you skip out of the office. You gaze upon the masses of workers on the tram, smugly wondering if their out-of-office responses are on yet.
Oh gosh. You’ve just reminded me that I was supposed to change my VM before every vacation or holiday at my old job. Something I completely forgot to do after the first year. Whoops!
Thanks for your email. I am on leave on 4th January 2021. I will revert to you once I’m back to work on 5th January 2021.
One of your European connections here. When I know the person covering me will also be away for part of the time I’m gone, I get another colleague to cover for those dates and put that in my OOO. Saying “Your e-mail will not be read” or similar is really off-putting. The youth worker at my church does this and I find it infuriating. Of course it won’t. That’s the point of a holiday. When I get an answer from someone who reads his e-mails on vacation I’m pleasantly surprised.
I should add that I actually WISH I got more exciting OOO messages and/or that I felt like I could be more exciting with mine!
A well-deserved holiday deserves a substantial out-of-office message that really hammers home the fact that they’re still working, while you’re off on your travels – nice and descriptive to really paint the picture!
The one from “Central Intelligence” with the Rock that I love is is (paraphrasing) :
Right, Outlook has that auto-display of OOO messages, so at least I know so-and-so won’t be seeing it for days and I either adjust expectations accordingly or I just email someone else.
Career Advice Aptitude Vs. Attitude Which Is Important To Find Your Dream Job
About the “overshares”: You linked to a previous column that mentioned this point, “Sometimes the over-sharing of plans can even come across as suspect — similar to how when someone’s calling in sick with genuine illness, they usually just say, ‘I’m going to be out sick,’ but fakers will generally give you a long list of overly specific symptoms, like they feel they have to convince you.”
For Focus Menu Apply Visit Study Request Info Give COVID-19 | Explore Future Students Current Students Parents & Families Alum Community Athletics Performances & Exhibitions Why Willamette Colleges & Schools Academic Majors & Programs Campus Life Undergraduate School of Arts & Sciences Graduate School of Law Graduate School of Management (MBA) All Graduate Programs Academic Calendar Administrative Offices Colleges & Schools Bookstore Campus Life Libraries Student Accounts Undergraduate Student Resources Law Student Affairs MBA Student Affairs Student Health Student Resources Parent & Family Resources Parents of Prospective Students Tuition, Aid & Scholarships Academic Calendar Visit Campus Campus Safety Student Health Why Willamette Alum Hub Events/Programs WU Stream Alum Awards WU Stream Contact Us Update Info Events Hallie Ford Museum of Art Arts at Willamette News Media Resources Athletics Home Ticket Information Facilities Recruiting Athletics News Bearcat Store Arts Calendar Music Performances Theatre Performances Hallie Ford Museum of Art Exhibits Student Art Exhibits Grace Goudy Distinguished Artists Series Theatre33 Visiting Artists Willamette University | People Willamette People Apply Visit Study Give COVID-19 My Willamette Explore Future Students Why Willamette Colleges & Schools Academic Majors & Programs Campus Life Undergraduate School of Arts & Sciences Graduate School of Law Graduate School of Management (MBA) All Graduate Programs Academic Calendar Administrative Offices Bookstore Campus Life Libraries Student Accounts Undergraduate Student Resources Law Student Affairs MBA Student Affairs Student Health Student Resources Parent & Family Resources Parents of Prospective Students Tuition, Aid & Scholarships Academic Calendar Visit Campus Campus Safety Student Health Why Willamette Athletics Home Ticket Information Facilities Recruiting Athletics News Bearcat Store Arts Calendar Music Performances Theatre Performances Hallie Ford Museum of Art Exhibits Student Art Exhibits Grace Goudy Distinguished Artists Series Theatre33 Visiting Artists
Setting an auto-response email is probably not the first thing on our mind before we jet off on holiday. But if we don’t do it, we risk eroding the trust between ourselves and our customers. It’s important to remember that response time is a non-verbal sign that shows clients and business partners how responsible and professional a company is.
My department still doesn’t allow us to send OOO auto-replies to external recipients because of one incident years ago (a customer tried to contact a sales rep about an urgent order, got the rep’s auto-reply, and in their ensuing panic, somehow got escalated all the way up to the company president). Any external emails we get are auto-forwarded to a centralized mailbox and (ostensibly) handled by another rep while we are out. It bothers me to know that my external contacts won’t get a reponse from me while I’m out and may think I’m just ignoring them.
Yep, tech worker here and I didn’t even bat an eye at this when I saw it on TikTok.