Then there was the occasional one who would do what Alison mentioned with the sickness excuses, and create a tale that read like a police report: “I must miss my deadline because, on the night of August 12, my 45-year-old sister was alone in her house when an intruder entered. He was a 6’1″ caucasian male wearing a black balaclava and carrying a candlestick. As my sister approached him, with the dog barking around her heels, she heard a distant car crash which led her to have a fatal … etc.” (This is not an actual excuse I received, just similar in detail to some of those that were submitted.) These ones I was pretty sure were a writing exercise, requiring time and effort that could have been put to better use on the actual assignment they had been given.
I just want short and sweet. Mine says, “I will be out of the office until X Date. If you need assistance before then, please contact my department at [email protected] or (000)000-0000. I will reply to messages when I return.”
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Thank you for your email, I’m currently out of the office and celebrating the holidays until [insert date]. For immediate assistance, please contact [insert name] at [insert email] and one of Santa’s helpers will assist you!
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.
Website: https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/holiday-out-of-office-messages
I had a coworker for the first 6 months or so of the pandemic set an out of office status on Teams that he was working from home and could be contacted at x number. Dude. We’re all working from home, and those stupid status messages are distracting!
The holidays bring cheer, excitement, and for many, a mailbox full of holiday cards from businesses. As a hard working professional, you may not have the time to craft the perfect holiday card message from your company. That's why we've assembled a list of 50 sample holiday card messages that you can use in this year's holiday cards. From Christmas …
Huge pet peeve – several of my coworkers still have COVID-related out of office notifications. I didn’t find them necessary in the first place, since everyone was still working from home and should have been checking emails normally, but it’s especially weird now that we’re officially back in the office a couple of days a week. It feels like they’re making a preemptive excuse for responding slowly. I’m surprised management hasn’t said something, honestly.
Yes, me too. It’s a lifesaver. Although to be fair, Outlook announces the fact that you’ve got an OOO message going out with a big yellow banner, so it’s quite hard to miss.
It's not pure altruism though, as the company explained when the policy was launched: "The aim of the project is to maintain the balance between the work and home life of Daimler employees so as to safeguard their performance in the long run."
So, professionals are expected to use out-of-office email autoresponders whenever they will be out of reach for a fairly long time.
When I started at my old job, they gave me a phone number in the directory but forgot to actually issue me a phone for several years! It was great.
Not being in the office doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t develop your brand’s reputation. To do this, offer a link to some reviews about your product. In doing this, you drive traffic to your website and leave a good impression of your company… providing the reviews are positive. Here’s an example of this method:
Co-sign. HATE THAT. We use Outlook and there’s a banner across the top that says AUTOMATIC REPLIES ARE BEING SENT. Just click the button to stop them!
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!
“Hi, Thank you for contacting me. I’m currently out of the office for a conference and will not be available until [date]. I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.”
In the time before your vacation, remind all of the co-workers on your team that you will be gone for the specific dates while also making sure to note your vacation on all internal company calendars. People are busy and can forget things, especially if those things are not happening regularly. You might have shared that you will be gone two months ago, but it’s something your colleagues may have forgotten. So, don’t neglect to remind everyone, because there might be some problems if that happens. Miscommunication is something that can be easily avoided, as in this specific case.