A thing my employer does is when someone leaves, they just shutoff the email. So someone goes to the trouble of writing an out of office explaining that they have retired or accepted a job somewhere else and where someone can go for help and IT just nukes the email address 24 hours after the person leaves. Then whomever was contacting them has no idea where to turn next. It is a terrible policy.
Perhaps I’m you guys’ worst nightmare, but for the past couple of years I’ve been writing haikus for my OOO, which give a flavour of what I’m out doing. A couple of examples:
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Compelling visuals catch the eye, bring automatic messages to life, and they add a spark of creativity and imagination to your message.
Yes, qualifiers can be helpful. Limited vs no email access, out of the office versus working off site, regular out of the office versus extended leave, etc.
Set up a vacation response to let your contacts know why you’re away or out of the office and when to expect you back. You can configure separate responses to use for different domains, such as one for your Yahoo email and another for your Gmail account.
Here's an auto-reply I created for my support account having some fun. But also throwing out an extra lifeline on the off chance I'm eaten by a bear. If the boss doesn't notice I'm missing, surely people emailing me will, right?
"I'll be out of the office from Monday, 12/14, and will be back on Monday, 12/21."
I think my personal VM still says, “Ahoy, ahoy!” In my best Mr. Burns voice. I’m a woman.
I think that it depends on whether or not that OoO was going to people in the company, who new your personsality and would appreciate the humour/personal touches, or to everyone, always. If I got the from OoO from a quirky co-worker, fine. It I got it from an outside contact that I have had little contact with? Unprofessional and a bit off-putting.
To help you fully unplug from email, we’ve compiled six of the best out-of-office message examples that are perfectly suited to you, your company, and this vacation-heavy time of year.
Yep. I work with people all over the US so I have no idea who is at home or actually in the office.
My voicemail is set up to forward to my email. I did this years ago, way before the Late Unpleasantness. And it’s perfect for working remotely. (I have trained my students to use email. My colleagues hate voicemail too, so we use email and gchat. Or walk down the hall when we’re live and in person)
Don't be afraid to use a pop cultural reference that the audience would recognize. Instead of bemoaning your absence, they'll have something fun and familiar to laugh at.
Whether you’re off sick, away on training or somewhere blissfully sunny, you’ll need to set-up your ‘Out of Office’ auto-reply. Most people tend to go with the boring and basic formula of apologies and redirection to someone else who might be able to help. We’ve scoured the internet and gathered 10 of our favourite responses. After reading these, you might rethink your own!
We had someone at my old job whose auto-reply stated that they were at a “White Privilege Conference”. Granted, the conference was about dismantling White Privilege, but to someone outside our work who didn’t know that, I imagine that got quite the reaction!
The exact dates you will be away.The reason for your absence. This is not obligatory, but bear it in mind. The thing is, people might still attempt to get in touch with you if you’re on a business trip or at a conference. They are less likely to try to contact you if they know you’re on vacation.The people who can assist a client while you’re away. Provide names, phone numbers, and email addresses so that colleagues and clients can keep in touch in case they need urgent help. It makes you look trustworthy in the eyes of the recipient and strengthens your working relationship with them.
too short, though – most of the time you should give a date of return to set expectation (and so I don’t bug you again before you’re back)