{"id":2528,"date":"2019-01-23T11:45:30","date_gmt":"2019-01-23T17:45:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.headwaycapital.com\/blog\/?p=2528"},"modified":"2020-10-05T15:05:26","modified_gmt":"2020-10-05T20:05:26","slug":"useful-ooo-templates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.headwaycapital.com\/blog\/useful-ooo-templates\/","title":{"rendered":"Useful Out of Office Templates"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Disclaimer: This post was originally published on our UK partner\u2019s site.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019ve been looking forward to this moment for weeks \u2014\u00a0hard earned holiday time away from grueling hours of work. Your itinerary is set, your bag is packed and there is only one more thing standing between you and your time off: your out of office email. While this basic practice seems like a simple courtesy to check off your to-do list, there is a way to do it\u2026 and several ways not to.<\/p>\n<p>You may think simple \u201cI\u2019m away\u201d messaging is sufficient, but there are clever alternatives that may just help you save time working through your emails upon your return or even increase engagement with your clientele while you\u2019re away.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s rethink the way we do diplomatic out of office emails and how we take advantage of this opportunity.<\/p>\n<p>Before we start, here are some quick links to step-by-step instructions to help set up your automated out of office response:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/mail\/answer\/25922?co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop&amp;hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Gmail vacation reply<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/support.office.com\/en-us\/article\/send-automatic-out-of-office-replies-from-outlook-9742f476-5348-4f9f-997f-5e208513bd67\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Outlook automatic replies<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lifewire.com\/vacation-auto-reply-yahoo-mail-1174492\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Yahoo! Mail Auto-reply<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>The Basics<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>Do\u2026<\/strong> include contact information for the best point person while you\u2019re away. Make sure to note that it is only for urgent matters \u2014 you don\u2019t want to inundate your colleague or manager with unnecessary work while you\u2019re away.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Don\u2019t\u2026<\/strong> forget to specify when you\u2019ll be back in office so the person reaching out has a timeline for your reply.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Here are examples of basic (and professional) <a href=\"https:\/\/small-bizsense.com\/professional-out-of-office-autoresponder-email-messages\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">out of office autoresponder email messages<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<h2><strong>The Best<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>Do\u2026<\/strong> include a link to useful information. The person reaching out to you <em>wants<\/em> to hear from you, so take advantage of the opportunity. Link to the FAQs on your website, an educational white paper or an enlightening blog post on your site.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Don\u2019t\u2026<\/strong> neglect the value of your social channels. If you don\u2019t have a resource to share, encourage the sender to engage with your social pages to learn more about your business. If your social media profiles are personal, include links to your business\u2019s brand.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Do\u2026<\/strong> take the opportunity to be personable. Include a fun fact about your company, the city your company resides or something interesting about your role. It shows your personality and your passion for your work in a simple way.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Don\u2019t<\/strong>\u2026 be too casual. While many of the people emailing are most likely established contacts, you have no way of knowing if someone important will reach out while you\u2019re away. A casual sign off about how you\u2019re crushing sangria on the beach or a GIF of a funny moment on a plane symbolising your absence may strike the wrong cord with an acquaintance.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Do\u2026<\/strong> take advantage of an opportunity to network while you\u2019re out of office. This is especially important if you\u2019re away attending a conference. After you include the basic information, include a quick note that names the conference you\u2019re attending and let others know you\u2019d love to take a few minutes to connect with them while you\u2019re there.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Don\u2019t\u2026<\/strong> pile all these strategies into one email. They\u2019ll most certainly get lost amongst each other. Pick and choose which are most effective for your business\/role or your reason for being out of office.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Disclaimer: This post was originally published on our UK partner\u2019s site. &nbsp; You\u2019ve been looking forward to this moment for &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":2529,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[613],"tags":[503,502,497,499,498,500,501],"class_list":["post-2528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology-and-tools","tag-autoresponder","tag-autoresponse","tag-out-of-office","tag-out-of-office-responses","tag-out-of-office-templates","tag-vacation-reminder","tag-vacation-response"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Useful Out of Office Templates - Headway Capital Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Here are some of the best tips for setting up your out of office response so you can truly enjoy your time away from your desk!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.headwaycapital.com\/blog\/useful-ooo-templates\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Useful Out of Office Templates - Headway Capital Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Here are some of the best tips for setting up your out of office response so you can truly enjoy your time away from your desk!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.headwaycapital.com\/blog\/useful-ooo-templates\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Headway Capital Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-01-23T17:45:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-10-05T20:05:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.headwaycapital.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/11\/18-00973-03_UK-OS-Diplomatic-Out-of-Office-Templates-and-How-to-Set-Them-Up_1a02-750x394.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"394\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Bonnie\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Bonnie\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Useful Out of Office Templates - 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