I worked at an office where we used OOO messages on voicemail pretty regularly and if we forgot to change the message, our callers were quick to tell us the outgoing message was outdated. That end date feature would have been a big help for us! A local council in Wales needed to get a road sign translated into Welsh. (All official signs in Wales have to be in both English and Welsh.) They got an out of office message in Welsh from the translator they contacted, assumed that was the translation and printed the out of office message on the sign. They didn’t realise their mistake till a Welsh speaker pointed it out…
Mary Stein has been working as a writer and editor for Host Agency Reviews since 2016. She loves supporting travel advisors on their entrepreneurial journey and is inspired by their passion, tenacity, and creativity. Mary is also a mom, dog lover, fiction writer, hiker, and a Great British Bake Off superfan. Join 13,858 agents and sign up for our monthly newsletter to have articles written just for home-based travel agents delivered straight to your inbox! Ew, Legal Privacy Policy Blog Disclaimer (Featuring Ryan Gosling) Terms of Service If you'd like to view the site without cookies or want to know more, read our Privacy Policy.
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Hah! Maternity/parental leave is often 1 year here, so there is zero expectation you will read or “catch up” afterwards. We keep our email addresses during where I work (Canadian government), so it’s standard to put an OOO that just says “on parental leave. Please contact X instead” with no reference to actually reviewing any of those emails, and often not even a projected date of return since people often flex their return date or take extra time, or just return to a different position entirely (out of choice).
When it comes to creativity, relatability is the biggest asset when it comes to appealing masses. Gini is a PR maestro, and his out of office reply strikes the right chords effortlessly. He refers to Field Of Dreams, and the overall message is strikingly convincing. It instils a sense of empathy for Gini, and one cannot fail to appreciate the creative value, thanks to the filmic reference. They are most likely to be happy about Gini’s OOO truce and won’t mind even if he stays out for some more time! Have a look at it:
To help you write yours, here’s everything you need to know, along with a few out of office templates for you to choose from:
Half of the auto-replies I get are for very specific chunks of time. Like, if you are out of the office for three hours I don’t need to know, dude.
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I’ve heard “please respond at *your* earliest convenience,” but never the other way around.
My coworker went out on disability for surgery and left an ominous OOO saying she would be out and did not have a return date, multiple people contacted me bc they were freaked out. The message suggested people reach out to me in her absence and spelled my name wrong, we’ve been working together for 4 years.
But your out-of-office message is as much for you as it is for the people receiving it, especially during the pandemic. “Boundaries have taken a big hit right now,” Ritter says. There’s a lot of pressure associated with missing something at work, and that stress has been heightened without the typical separation between office and home and with the added fear caused by an uncertain economy. An OOO message is a chance to set expectations, “to give yourself some breathing room and to ensure other people aren’t thinking negatively about you,” Ritter says, and it’s crucial for your mental health.
I am celebrating the season. I'll respond to your email when I return to work on [date]. Thank you for your patience, and I hope you and your loved ones have a joyous holiday.
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i am 100 percent in favor of using email signatures and out of office messages to be more blunt about how you want other people to use/respect your time. from this: politico.com/newsletters/we…
I suppose I’d rather know that and be able to factor it in to my schedule, irritating as it is, than not know and get caught by the month-long delay.
Usually, you have the option ready, and all you have to do is go to your email settings. Once you are there, you will see something like Automatic Replies, or even Out of office AutoReply, as it is with Gmail:
Thank you for your email. Unfortunately, I am currently out of the office and will not return until 3rd November.
Whether you're taking a personal or business trip, keep in mind that information contained in your OOO message could be used against you maliciously. Be sure to follow out-of-office message best practices to keep your company data secure. Create different out-of-office replies based on whether the message is going to someone inside or outside your company Avoid personal details Don't share your travel destination Don't provide direct insight into the chain of command Avoid listing your exact length of vacation