Make your out of office message more effective

With the holiday season on the horizon, now-s the time to think about making better use of our out of office replies, says Lynn Elsey.

One of the last things most of us do – before sprinting out of the office to start that much-needed break – is tap out an out of office auto reply. Rather than returning to work and having to face hundreds (or thousands) or unread messages, why not spend a few minutes creating  a message that will smooth the way.

Here are some tips for making the most out of your out of office messages.

1.    Be specific

Provide the exact dates that you will be out of the office

Note if and when you will be checking email: occasionally, once a day or not at all

Make it clear if you will be responding to messages before you return

Remember, if you include your mobile phone number in your message, it suggests that you are expecting calls.

2.    Provide an alternative

Provide the name and contact details (email and phone) of someone to deal with necessities; it is always helpful to include job titles for people who aren’t familiar with your organisation.

3.    Be bold

Rather than saying you will respond to messages when you return, writing: “Please contact me when I return” should help cut down on the number of unanswered messages piling up in your absence.

4.    Delegate your inbox

If you really want to return from a break without spending hours and hours scrolling through messages (many that may no longer be relevant) and don’t want to monitor them during your holiday, consider assigning someone the job of managing your messages in your absence. This could be a great training experience.

Taking a time out

Your out of office function is not just for holidays. Why not use it to block out distractions when you really need to focus on a project or issue? Create a message that indicates you are offline from x to y and when people can expect a reply.

4 December 2017