We have all received an out-of-office reply. Some of them are just right, some feel like they require us to send a sympathy card, and some just leave us wondering. I’m no authority on the “right” way to write an out-of-office reply, and I’ve left a few dumb ones in my life.
Now that I’ve totally disqualified myself, I can give my two cents!
Why Your Out-of-Office Reply Matters
The most egregious offenders of a badly written OOO email all have one thing in common: tossing your problems into the lap of another. (Not a good look for a leader.)
“Sorry I’ve missed you. Your message is important to me…”
“Sorry” is disingenuous here. How can you say the message is important without even reading it? That’s like stating, “dinner was delicious,” before taking a single bite.
“I’ll be checking my email from time to time…”
So I guess we have to wait until it’s convenient for you before we hope you’ll read what we took the time to write?
“I’m currently out of the office.”
Okay… when might you return, sport? Do I have to guess?
“I’m on PTO…”
Well, sorry to bother you, Mr. or Mrs. Entitled!
I don’t even like the ones that mention a death in the family. I’m deeply sympathetic when I read news like that, but I go into a tailspin contemplating what action I should take. I guess I’ve always kept my problems and issues to myself (or at least shared them with a trusted group of people), never on an out-of-office auto-reply.
(And if you are away but checking email, you’re not really out of the office.)
Writing the Perfect OOO Email
Out-of-office replies do have their place. For efficiency’s sake, it’s helpful to redirect someone to another person on your team who will respond. Of course, you should get that person’s permission first and prepare him or her to screen and reply to your emails.
Keep it short, and leave the apologies off. Here’s an example:
“I’ll be out of the office from March 19th until April 1st. Sarah Smith is standing by to respond to your needs at (insert email).”
It’s concise, not rude or emotional, easy to read, and helpful to the person who needs a timely response.
Keep in mind that we’re all swamped, communicating across countless channels, and have problems of our own. Don’t let your out-of-office reply add to the pile.
Make it Personal!
Rob
