There’s just one problem with this approach: you’ve now obligated yourself to regularly check your email the whole time you’re out.
I work for a Japanese company which has a regular rotation of engineers who come over for 2-4 years so we get some enjoyable translations for all manner of communication.
.
The key to a good note is to let the person feel that you are really thinking of them. A good note keys into the person it's being sent to and reflects a special connection. (If you're writing to someone you don't know well, this is even harder. But I'll get to that later.) 1. Don't write the note when you haven't got a lot of time to think and ...
7) If you’re reading this, Doc Brown was unable to make lightning strike the clock tower, and I’m stuck in 1985. I won’t be able to respond to emails or voicemail until 9ish on mm/dd, or until email is invented — whatever comes first.
Make sure that when you set your vacation email, you’re giving clients or prospects the information – and the peace of mind – they need. You don’t want them to wonder why they aren’t getting a response, or who they should contact in your absence, and how. And that’s all any vacation email really needs.
You’ve worked to make your email clear, and you’ve carefully edited to streamline your writing.The body of your email might well be perfect, but it can all go awry if you use the wrong sign-off. It’s just a word or a short phrase, followed by your signature, and yet finding the right tone to close your email often requires a surprising amount of thought and finesse.
Dear Customer, Thank you for your email, but our company is out of office, celebrating [HOLIDAY]. Unfortunately, it means we will not be able to send you any reply until [DATE]. We apologize for the delay but wish you a wonderful holiday season. Best regards.
When I worked in a federally-regulated industry that required drug testing, we always tended to say “our drug program” when we should have been saying, “drug abatement program.”
Again, this will depend HUGELY on what sort of role it is (an external-facing vendor, for example, should probably not use something like this). But for many internal requests, it is not power-tripping to ask someone to either redirect their email or wait until a later date to send it.
Depending on the type of holiday, you can create specific templates for various holidays such as Christmas Thanksgiving, New Year etc.:
I take advantage of the ability to send different OOO messages to internal or external addresses. Internal addresses get a couple of people to contact if it’s urgent, usually my direct report and my backup person, since between them they can cover pretty much everything I do, or at least they’ll know who can. External addresses get a more general notice: “I am temporarily out of the office. If your message is regarding the Llama Care project and requires a prompt response from our Llama Grooming Team, please make sure that [email protected] is one of the recipients of your message.” Probably not the most elegant phrasing, but we have a distribution list for this very reason. Even requests that they know only I handle are supposed to go to the LG list.
(Depending on your email host, the process of setting up your out of office assistant may vary. You can find a guide on how to access your out of office settings in Outlook here.)
Oh hey, it’s Christmas, what are you doing emailing me? I’m extremely busy watching Home Alone, Die Hard, and the 1994 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Christmas Special on repeat until the new year. I might stop for food and toilet breaks, I also might now. Regardless of my general health and hygience over the silly season, I’ll be back in office on January 2nd. Catch ya then, don’t forget to buy a pepperoni pizza for Splinter.
Even if I do have access to my email while I’m vacation, I typically do “I’m out of office with no access to email or voicemail until (date). For anything requiring immediate attention please contact (boss).” If I happen to check my email I can still forward the important ones, but otherwise hopefully people get the message that I will not be responding.
4.) Herzlich willkommen bei Mustermann Solutions . Wegen einer firmeninternen Veranstaltung ist heute unser Sekretariat nicht erreichbar.Sie können uns aber gerne eine Nachricht hinterlassen. Ab Montag stehen wir Ihnen wieder persönlich zur Verfügung. Vielen Dank für Ihr Verständnis.
I saved this one for the last example. It’s exactly what anyone would like to say when an associate messages them regarding any work during the holiday season. It talks about the ‘me time’ and also shares empathy for the sender. Especially, asking the sender to order the Pepperoni Pizza after stating the date of return is a fab movie. One of the best ways to display empathy is being humorous as it doesn’t put the other person into pressure- it makes way for helping them take the situation lightly!
My colleague does that just for holidays.. it does say who else to contact, but tbh if I’m emailing him a couple of days before he’s due to return then I’m not massively impressed at the insinuation I should take the action of remembering to resend it… in reality I think he probably does read *some* emails but clearly views the OOO as a way to absolve responsibility if he misses something..