Hello, and thanks for your email! If you’re getting this message, it means I’m taking my annual two-week creative sabbatical—working on personal projects that inspire me, so that I can return to work full of fresh ideas for my clients, like you! I’ll respond to your note once I return to the office on [DATE]. In the meantime, here’s a question: What inspires you? Do that, today.
And that's it. Easy peasy, right? We know there are tons of genius out of office messages we missed, so if you've got a favorite don't forget to share it with us in the comments below!
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But the bottom line is, unplug as much as you possibly can. You’ll get more benefit from your time away and return relaxed, recharged and ready to take on the New Year with extra energy.
It took me far too long to realize that trying to be funny at work is overrated, and this reply kind of encapsulates that perfectly. I would just about bet people will like you more, AND they’ll be more likely to follow the guidance you’re offering, if you just do a concise, “normal” OoO.
Hello, this is Michael Smith from ABA English. Sorry I missed you. If you have a question about our products, please contact [email protected]. I will follow up once at home. Kind regards.
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One of our support champions will attend you shortly. You are [number] in the queue. Your wait time will be approximately [minutes]. Thank you. We appreciate your patience.
I am currently out of the office and will not have access to email. Please contact Elena Prince at [email protected] in my absence.
That’s what always got me! There always seemed to be an air of preemptive defensiveness? I’m definitely reading a lot into it based on other ways this person showed up in the workplace and how they treated others. Also I completely agree that some things are more important than work (!), but there was something about the way these were phrased that made me feel like ……… okay?? I know??? It just felt … performative.
Thank you for your email. I’m currently out of the office until [date] to celebrate the holiday with my loved ones—without my phone in front of my face.
Hollywood star turned gin distiller Ryan Reynolds showed last summer how the OOO can become a marketing tool. “Thank you for your email and interest in Aviation American Gin! I’m away from my desk at the moment but will respond the moment they give me a desk,” began his first attempt. A few months later, along came another: “This is only my 2nd OUT OF OFFICE REPLY. From what I’m told, it should be short, sweet and NEVER overly personal or emotional.” After TV host Jimmy Fallon asked him to read one out on The Tonight Show, the resulting influx – around 20,000 emails in a single day – to [email protected] melted the small brand’s servers. Fortunately, it also reportedly piqued the interest of retailers and restaurants, keen to start carrying the tipple.
Option 3: If it’s an inferno, skip the line. Is everything burning and only a master of existential threats could help? First, flattered you even contacted me. Now get going and contact my supervisor. He is the elusive one you’re looking for.
Because you can never predict when an emergency will come up, make sure you have someone who can resond to urgent requests. And that person would be your direct manager. But let them know ahead of time so they're not blindsided when they need to respond to something.
But I'm someone who has co-workers in almost every time zone, on almost every continent, and in almost every geographic region, and I simply can't imagine using most of these examples with co-workers in, say, South Korea or Japan or Nicaragua. Like, the account manager who reaches out to me for help accessing a particular system in Seoul doesn't need my personal story about why I'm taking time off and all the fun (or, for that matter, not fun) things that I'll be doing — they need help gaining access to [system] in order to complete the job tasks that have been assigned to them. If I am not available to help them, they need to know who can, and if there just *isn't* anyone else who can perform this task, they need to know when I will be able to.
“We hope you that this holiday season finds you enjoying every single minute of it. We are aware that this is the time of the year everyone is looking forward to and we are no different from you in that regard. Since we hope to spend some quality time with our families and friends, holiday closure period is ahead of us. We hope that you will enjoy the holidays just as much as we will.
Hi! I will be out of the office this week. If you need immediate assistance while I’m away, please email (COLLEAGUE NAME).
You don’t have to disclose the specific reason for your absence in your out-of-office message. You can simply say “I’m on leave” or “I’m currently out of the office.” This goes for any reason you’re OOO.