When I return from a break, I talk to the people who have acted in my stead and get the rundown of what happened/what needs to still be done. That’s part of my whole “back to work triage”.
“Hi, Sorry I missed your call/text. I’m currently out of the office and will not be back until Feb 2. My colleague [name] has agreed to respond on my behalf, so feel free to forward the message to [phone] if it is urgent. You can otherwise expect a response from me once I return. Thanks for understanding.”
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When you’ve finally powered your way through that seemingly endless to-do list and are ready to check out of work mode once and for all, there’s one final thing you need to take care of: setting your out-of-office response.
That’s how I feel about OOO for when I’m only gone one workday. Very rarely am I dealing with anything that can’t wait 2 business days. I only set up OOO replies if I’ll be gone longer.
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.
The one I’ve always wished I was brave enough to write was the one I once got which simply said:
NetHunt Blog | Sales, Marketing, and CRM Blog By Topic Sales Party Business Universe Email Marketing Corner What's New at NetHunt Marketing Space All Things Gmail Customer Experience CRM Essentials Expert Room Write For Us By Topic Sales Party Business Universe Email Marketing Corner What's New at NetHunt Marketing Space All Things Gmail Customer Experience CRM Essentials Expert Room Write For Us Subscribe Start Free Trial
The example above (which comes from NY Times) may not take advantage of some of the tips we mentioned, but it’s great because it’s so short. Due to its absent-minded straightforwardness, such a message can be perceived as a real, non-automated reply — as if you were so busy that you only carved out a few seconds to type these five words.
We have one key administrative assistant who works part time and I always forget — I appreciate that she sets an OOO every day because her department is very deadline driven and it helps me to remember that if I need something from them, I need to connect with her in the morning. We also have some staff who work the school year calendar and others who are year round; the OOO is so helpful in the summers!
Does your business operate outside typical working hours? Let people know with a message. Thanks for your message! Craig’s is an Australian-based company, therefore you can reach us during our business hours 6 pm – 2 am EST.
In this post, I’ll share what makes a good voicemail greeting — and the best voicemail greeting scripts you can use.
Or they work with one or more of those people that call you 5 minutes after sending an email if you don’t reply.
I’m betting Ace means part-time staff working their regular schedules. So if you work regularly work 30 hrs a week, I don’t need your OOO for the other 10 hrs (assuming a 40 hr week), but if you’re on vacation for multiple days or a full week, then yes, use an OOO message.
In the top right corner of your Gmail window, click the cog icon. The quick setting panel will appear. From there, click “See all settings.”
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Here are the 25 best office closed for holiday message templates that are professional. ----- Our office will remain closed until the end of this week for Thanksgiving …
I would be SUPER annoyed to get this! I agree it seems condescending and it’s just too long.