Out-Of-Office Messages… Shouldn’t Put The Recipient To Sleep
Over the past year, I can count the number of vacation days I’ve taken on one hand. And it’s the same for people on my staff. If you can’t take a vacation, what’s the point of using up vacation days?
But with life slowly returning to normal, I’ve started to think about traveling again. In fact, I’m going on a trip with my 86-year-old mother. By the time you read this, I’ll be officially out of the office.
As I began to count down the days before the trip, I remembered that I had to update my out-of-office message. It’s been so long since that was a thing that I had to wrack my brain about how to do it. I had hazy memories of it being buried somewhere in my email program.
There are plenty of online resources about writing the perfect out-of-office message for any situation. But the truth is that most of us write just one over the course of our career and update it as little as possible each time we go away. Minutes before we turn off our computer, we update the dates we’ll be away and beg a coworker to be the point person in case some colleague has an urgent question. Then we click the out-of-office box and shut our laptop.
But as I was thinking about my trip, I began agonizing over how boring most OOO messages can be. “Thanks for your email,” most of them begin. “I am currently out of the office and will have little or no internet access while I am away…” No wonder nobody ever bothers to read them.
After a lot of thought, here’s what I came up with:
While I truly love getting your emails, between July 2 and July 10, I'll be responding from a slightly more tropical location.
Please allow a longer than usual response time as I take my annual international pilgrimage with my mom.
Our culture doesn't always support slowing down or changing your scenery -- but I highly recommend it.
It’s perfect for me, I think. The tone is friendly without being overly familiar. And while it hints at what I do for a living — I’m the founder of the corporate training firm Balancing Life’s Issues — but it isn’t at all salesy.
The thing is that OOO messages don’t have to be boring. It’s possible for them to accomplish what they need to accomplish — letting people know that you’re away, when you’ll be back, and who they should contact in the meantime — without putting people to sleep. They can be funny, creative, and even a little bit silly.
Here’s the rules that me and my team came up with for writing memorable OOO messages.
Make them laugh. The worst advice I ever got about writing an OOO message: “Unless you’re a comedy writer, resist making jokes.” There’s no reason that we should leave all the funny material to the team at Saturday Night Live. Even a bad joke — especially a bad joke — can make your message memorable. If you’re the one in the office who’s always ready with a one-liner, your coworkers will be looking forward to your OOO message.
But a quick word of warning: If you’re not usually funny, your OOO might not be the place to try out material. And resist the urge to cut and paste a supposedly humorous message from the internet. They are invariably out of date — references to Back to the Future abound — and often borderline offensive.
Don’t be afraid to get personal. Even a serious publication like Harvard Business Review weighed in on this issue. It turns out that sharing bits of information about you, your trip, or your company can “deepen a business relationship or the connection a client feels toward your company.” Research shows that building these types of social connections can contribute to our success on the job. So feel free to mention that you’re visiting family or taking that trip of a lifetime.
Stay professional. Not everyone can get away with this cheeky sign-off from writer Daniel Mallory Ortberg: “I am currently on vacation and not accepting any emails about anything. I’m not planning on reading any old emails when I get back, either, because that feels antithetical to the vacation experience.” Don’t talk about hating work or dreading your return to the office on Monday morning. Who wants to work with that person?
And with that last piece of advice, I’m signing off. But while I’m away, feel free to send me an email. I’ll reply as soon as I’m back in the office.