I love this and want to start using it. I am assuming it’s pronounced “hood-a-lay” and that said hodilay has already begun when the OOO message was written!
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If you’ve written an out-of-office message before, you’ll surely know some of the basics. For the most part, they still apply during the pandemic, with a few additional considerations. Here’s a quick overview of what you should keep in mind as you compose your autoreply these days:
People really just need to know that I’m either definitely not going to reply (annual leave) or might but delayed (all day meetings) plus when I’m back and who to contact if it is urgent.
Hi, Our store will be closed until the end of the week for Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Year]. We are happy to inform you that all of your emails will be answered once we are back on [date]. Kind regards.
Are you going on leave or vacation, or perhaps you are sick or traveling to remote areas or attending an event that would prevent you from responding to emails as fast as you normally do; this set of out-of-office email examples will guide you on how to create your own out-of-office email autoresponder:
16) I am currently out of the office and probably out-of-my-mind drunk. Enjoy your workweek.
A couple work friends and I banded together years ago to fill each others’ voicemails so it would be impossible to leave us new voicemails.
I am on vacation. I cannot read your email. Your email is being deleted. Please contact Hans or Monika if it's really important, or resend the email after I'm back in the office. Danke Schoen.
Website: https://www.eou.edu/coronavirus/2020/03/24/march-24-2020-voicemail-and-phone-instructions-when-working-from-home/
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My fav is the one I got that was “I’ve retired and I won’t be checking this account EVER AGAIN!”
Giving the option to contact an email address containing “interruptyourvacation” provides two things — 1) A dose of humor, and 2) discouragement from actually doing what the name suggests. Plus, he prefaces it with a request for empathy, by explaining that he promised quality time to his family.
The main thing to equivocate over for this sort of response is what details to include as a backup contact method. If your line of work means clients might need to urgently contact you, a mobile number might be appropriate, or if you’re lucky enough to have an assistant (must be nice), you can list their contact details.
Guiding them regarding who to talk to within your absence is surely a part of being responsible for your work, but it’s not necessary to make it boring. Auto replies are extremely common in today’s world with 306.4B daily emails, and taking your contacts by surprise will give them a reason to smile even if they don’t get your help personally. In this article, I have tried to include both out-of-the-box email copies and use of multimedia so that you can get inspired by what suits your workplace. I hope you find this post helpful for the upcoming holiday season.
Was required to do this at my last job and our script was to say “I’m working from home today. If you need to reach me urgently, call me at (personal/home/cell number).”
It's December 1st in the North East and businesses are turning their attentions to Christmas...