Is there anything more self-serving and ridiculous than an “out of office” email reply?
You send a message to someone and within two seconds a message hits your inbox that says something along the lines of…
“I am out of the office with limited access to email. If your message is important please contact May Jo Doesn’tCareAboutYourProblem in the Department of No Action. I will be back in two days and will respond to your email then (maybe.)”
“Limited access to email.” Really? (McDonalds has FREE wifi at 11,500 locations.)
“If it is important – (I’m too lazy to forward these things automatically so…) you do the work (not me) and resend your email to someone else.” Really? (link to how to forward emails here.)
We Are Connected
The research shows we’re a nation of phone users (over 880 million subscriptions in North America) and 35 percent of American adults have a smartphone – ¼ of which them use it as their primary access to the internet (I’m making a leap here and saying that includes email as well- but that wasn’t mentioned specifically in the research.)
In other words – between cell phone access and McDonalds – there is no “out of office.” Unless you’re climbing mountains in Machu Picchu or you’re on a 24 hour plane ride, you are “in” the office.
There is no out of office any more. There is a “not working during these hours” option – say 11:00 pm until 7:00 am – sleep is still part of the human condition. But there is no “out of office.”
Out of Office=Disengagement
To me the “out of office” message is just an acceptable way to say…
“I really couldn’t care less about my job or the outcomes of the organization, so I’m going to find the easiest way to absolve myself from responsibility by using the 21st century version of the dog ate my homework, and tell you I can’t get email. Even though I could, with a little effort, I’m not going to, because I don’t really want to solve your problem or do my job for the next few hours/days/weeks.”
Yup… out of office message is a mini-vacation from responsibility. It’s a way of getting out of work without looking like a laggard. And I firmly believe anyone who uses it is disengaged.
Why Out of Office Isn’t Needed
Why I think you should abandon out of office messages…
- It is rare someone will be in a position where email communication matters and not have an email enabled phone. Rare hell… I’ll bet it is a certainty in today’s world. Get, and answer, your email on your phone; even if it is a quick message saying you’ll handle it.
. - It is rare that someone would be unconnected to a cell phone signal for longer than say – 4 hours. Coast to coast flights are a reality, so you may be out of cell range.But if you have a laptop and are on a plane with an internet connection, then bill the access fee to your expense account (you know you expense the headsets to watch cleaned up versions of “The Santa Clause” right?) and get to work checking emails. Your plane seat is probably as comfortable as your office chair.
If you are out of cell range and you don’t have a laptop or a plane with internet, you still don’t get a pass… see #3 below…
. - If you really are going to be away from email for an extended period of time then AUTOMATICALLY forward emails to specific people in your office responsible for handling your business while you’re out of the office. Don’t make me send two emails. Let the system handle the logic.If you’re on your honeymoon, then get with your team and make sure they know what’s going on and then tell IT (or learn to do it yourself – it ain’t that hard) to set up temp forwarding rules so messages go to specific people. You can do this with certain keywords or other criteria in the message or from the sender – i.e.: From BIG CLIENT X – route that to your boss no? This could be embarrassing if you have a lot of personal stuff routed to your work email – but even then you can probably filter your “special” emails about the little blue pills to go to a personal folder.
.
Eliminate “out of office” email responses.
It is a loophole in the system and needs to be shut down. Every time I get an out of office email I think – “that person really doesn’t care about their job.”
Is it just me – or am I channeling Andy Rooney here?
And oh yeah, GET OFF MY DAMN LAWN!
I don’t know what industry you work in, but… I’d never answer an email outside of business hours. Or if I was on vacation. Or a lot of different situations.
Your contention appears to be that there is no work-life balance; since you have access to email all the time, you’re “in office” all the time. Sorry, but at 10 PM at night I’m not responding to the ding of a client’s email. It’s not to be nasty or “disengaged”, it’s to set appropriate expectations that I’m not there 24/7 to leap up to deal with a business need. I’m a service *provider*, not a slave.
I’ve always viewed Out of Office as a polite way to inform folks you aren’t around. I’m going to be at a conference tomorrow and I’d like for my clients to know I won’t be at my desk – that way if they see a reply from Suzy they’re not completely thrown off.
I utterly disagree. Valid reasons why I’m out of office:
1. My child is sick and not trivially. Family is more important than any job… right?
2. I’m at the doctor’s office and not for trivial reasons. My health is more important than any job… right?
3. It’s my first or tenth or fiftieth anniversary. My loved ones are more important than any job… right?
I could keep going but I hope you get the idea now. Your blog post takes an absolutist stance that lacks compassion, empathy, or a recognition of the biological, mental, emotional, and physiological realities of life. My guess is you are young, have no children, aren’t married, and work you ass off. Try that for the next 30 years and tell me then if you still agree with what you’re saying.
And God help anyone who ever has to work for you as a boss.
Thanks Jon… appreciate the comment but…
I did reference the time we are not “on the clock” – that’s normal and expected.
However, my point was that out of office is self-serving and isn’t customer (whether internal or external.) The out of office email simply states “I can’t help you. You do this to get help.”
I’m suggesting that there are ways around that issue through auto-forwarding and access via other means when you are “on the clock.”
I can see an out of office email that says something like… “I’m traveling (or on vacation or whatever) and won’t be able to get to this as quickly as I normally do so I’ve automatically forwarded it to Suzy/Frank to help you – they will be getting back to you shortly.”
At least in that instance you’ve alerted them to your inability to help them directly – AND – actually did something proactive to help them.
An email that says “tough luck” isn’t engagement in my mind.
Thanks Bret for weighing in but…
No one is reading the post! I specifically called out that there are times when you cannot get your emails. I fully expected people to get that I’m including all the reasons you’ve mentioned.
Read my response to Jon and then come back and slap me.
And truthfully – the folks that worked for me appreciated the fact that they knew if they sent me an email I’d do what it took to provide quality responses – even if it meant forwarding the email (automatically I might add) to someone who could take care of their problem.
Also, a valid reason for OOO:
I’m in NYC office and staff in LA office needs to know I’m not ignoring them and who to contact in my absence, which might change due to organization changes or vacation schedules they are unaware of due to remoteness.
I agree any OOO that doesn’t state who to contact in one’s absence is incomplete. But to knock OOO in general is just baloney.
OK, fair enough, I read it again. And I still read it as a vast judgmental overgeneralization.
Out of office = disengagement on the employee’s part? Really?
Couldn’t one make an equally compelling argument that one’s employer doesn’t care enough to provide the necessary tools to enable the employee to stay in touch?
Why are you scapegoating the employee and not the employer?
Perhaps “out of office = employer too cheap to pay for laptop/smartphone b/c the employer doesn’t care.”
Just sayin’…
Paul, I hope you are not a workaholic. Work Life Balance is crucial to your own success in your career and your life. Next time you get an automated email, think “That person really DOES care about their job and you.”
It is polite to let someone know when you are away on vacation, at a conference, or away doing something else. The person who sent the original message deserves to know that you may not be available now, but you care enough to respond promptly.
Just automatically forwarding the email to someone in your office is sometimes not realistic in this economy. There may not be that “someone else” in your office to answer for you. You may be a consultant working from a home office without the resource to just forward the email.
You might be working your second part-time job and not able to answer the cell phone at any time at all.
I think that an automated response can show thoughtfulness and respect to the sender.
John… Brilliant! You are so right. Maybe an OOO message that says:
“I’d answer your email but my company is too cheap and doesn’t care enough about your problem to provide me with the appropriate tools to respond. I’ll get back to you when I’m back.”
A couple of those hitting the CEO just might change some things!
Thanks for showing a different point of view.
Bret – you’re right. It is a generalization – but I do think it will make people think about how that kind of response might just get them to change a process that is inherently customer unfriendly.
Sharon – I agree letting people know you’re not handling their problem directly because you’re not available (for whatever reason) is just good manners. My point was to put the onus back on the customer is just bad customer service (IMHO).
Obviously, there will be times when it is unavoidable – but those should be rare. As far as tools to forward emails – those are available for every email service.
If you are a lone consultant – then you don’t have that option of not being responsive – you will be out of business soon enough. That’s one of the negatives that goes along with it IMHO.
I’m sorry but I’m away from the computer eating lunch and watching the Colbert Report. Please post your comment and I’ll get back to it in the order it was received.
I have to disagree. It should be viewed as a curtosey. As HR, often emails hitting the in box are not designed to be seen by other eyes. How often do we see stories of thoughtless emails that end up in the wrong hands? Let’s face it, HR gets a lot of those emails that should never have been written. While I’m not “out of office” regularly, when I am, it’s because it’s my time to reconnect with life outside the office. I can’t do that if I’m checking email every 10 minutes. Should you need your problem addressed right away, I want you to know who can help you. I just don’t want to hear you cry when the unfiltered email you sent to me complaining about Mr. Jones’ Admin Assistant lands in Mr. Jones’ in-box, to your surprise. (You should have been talking to the Assistant or Mr. Jones to begin with, but that is beside the point.)
Can it be over used, absolutely. I do not believe we should be ever connected just because it’s possible. Balance and boundaries are as important in the workplace as they are at home. Not easy to achieve, perhaps, but important.
I generally love the information this blog provides, but I don’t agree with this post…I know you’ve heard of work/life balance. Just because you have the internet on your phone doesn’t mean you want or should be connected at all times. Patience is a virtue. If the matter is urgent, it will get taken care of in a timely manner–that’s why they are giving you an additional person to contact. If it’s not, then you have to be patient and wait for their return. Everyone deserves a break from work, and no one should be called lazy or disengaged if they decide to take one. And if we’re talking about laziness–not wanting to send two emails?–I don’t know..doesn’t seem like that takes too much effort…especially if it helps to solve your problem.
The point of the OOO should be to let those people who contact you out of the blue know what is going on. You are correct, you should have planned for and coordianted with co-workers/back-ups for everything else, but to imply that someone using the OOO just plain doesn’t care, hasn’t planned, or somehow isn’t doing enough is silly.
Too many of my own co-workers never unplug. We were getting emails on Thankgiving day and they were not of an “international urgency”. I think my OOO is a courtesy to folks to let them know that they are not being ignored, and I do look forward to connecting with them upon my return from a much needed, much deserved, much appreciated DAY OFF! I always leave an URGENT contact for the unplanned urgencies. As a full-time working Mom with a child in daycare, sometimes all I have time to do before dashing out to pick up a feverish, barfing 2 year old is turn on my OOO and cross my fingers.
This particular post seems so smug and dark. Are you that person that I hear having business conversations from the bathroom stall?
“35 percent of American adults have a smartphone – ¼ of which them use it as their primary access to the internet (I’m making a leap here and saying that includes email as well- but that wasn’t mentioned specifically in the research.)
In other words – between cell phone access and McDonalds – there is no “out of office.” Unless you’re climbing mountains in Machu Picchu”.
How do you get from ’35%’ to ‘there is no out of office’? You need at least double that percentage for the argument to make sense. Also, check a cell phone coverage map for West Virginia. White water raft trip = no phone.
What you are suggesting is a new definition of what a vacation day is. You don’t see many CEOs or people who really care about the outcome of their business using out of the office emails because they are looking out for the best of the company and themselves.
When employees apply for and accept a job, the benefits including sick days and vacation days are a big part of the negotiation. They are important because many people want to be able to shut their office brains off and relax so that they can be ready to take on their role when they return. They want that work life balance and they want to be able to give their full attention to their families when they are off.
I agree with number 3 though that a copy of each incoming email should be forwarded to a co-worker who can handle anything that needs to be taken care of. This should be a set policy in any company that when going on vacation, emails about X go to this person and emails about Y to that person. The “out of office” emails are only used because the people at the top have set up a different policy yet.
I must say, I agreewith your commenters in this case. An ooo response is standard protocol and courteous. I won’t be abandoning this practice anytime soon and I am pretty much always connected and certainly not disengaged.
I am actually taking reflected heat for this one Paul from the FOT feed tweets on my account. Thanks a lot pal! Seriously, I think if you had titled the post ’3 Ways to Make Your Out of the Office Message More Customer Friendly’ and maybe toned down one or two sentences in the piece you wouldn’t be getting all the grief. But that would have been a boring kind of post. I do think you raise some interesting and important ideas related to the 24/7 connected world and the choices and tradeoffs that many of us face all the time. It is too bad that discussion is getting a bit lost in all the ‘Paul is a big tyrant who thinks no one should ever take a day off’ banter in the comments.
Paul, Paul, Paul,
Good effort, right idea but you didn’t nail it for me.
Out-of-office e-mail responses are terribly used. I know when my e-mail is included in some of our e-mail distributions, I get a few hundred out-of-office responses and they are mostly terrible. Some people even use them when they take half days! So yes, I agree, people misuse the hell out of the autoresponder.
But, there is something wrong in the world when we, as people, can’t wait for a response (or that a properly used and written autoresponder makes you assume I’m disengaged). Most people who write me are writing me specifically, not a co-worker. And most of the time, I’ll respond, even if I’m away. No out-of-office message.
If I’m up in Alaska or wherever and truly away from work and technology for a week though, enjoy my autoresponder. We should be fine with that as a society. And I guess I’ll be glad that it’s not you who is judging my level of engagement!
Okay – back from lunch. BTW – John Stewart for PRES!
Here we go – ‘cuz all commentators deserve a response…
Lace – great point out sensitive emails. Agree 1000%. I’ll have to cypher on that one.
Persis Swift – this post isn’t about 24/7 connectivity – it’s about handling the times you are disconnected differently. My rant was on the OOO message that says – tough – I’ll get to it later or you do the work to get something done. That’s what I’m against.
Ouida – again – not about taking time off – it’s about not planning well and using the technology to solve someone’s problem. And no – I never talk on the phone in the bathroom. I make my calls when I can – and in a timely manner – or I find someone who can handle the problem without them doing the detective work and retyping and resending an email.
Chris – I’m not saying there is NO out of office. I’m saying the way OOO is used is wrong and needs to be rethought and updated. I only mention the phone thing because I get OOO from people I KNOW have BB and iphones – and who disengage when they travel assuming the short, non-helpful OOO message absolves them from doing the right thing – which is calling/emailing when they have the time later in the day.
Amir – never said no sick days or no vacation. I think we’re confusing the point – or I did a horrible job explaining that it is the message I am opposed to not that people should answer email and phone 24/7.
Colleen – standard protocols are what keep us from evolving. Should we continue to address everyone in the organization by Mr. / Mrs. because that was standard protocol in the 50s? Why not find a better way? I’m not saying be rude or discourteous – I’m saying let’s think about it differently and do it differently.
Steve – yeah – I could have changed the title and content – but this is FOT not Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood. These things need to be said.
All in all folks – I figured there’d be some blowback on this – but wow – I didn’t know how many people liked their OOO messages – or…. Maybe I just hit the nail on the head with the disengagement thing…
There are some good points in the post (out of office notices generally aren’t very helpful and could be done better), but it ignores a variety of factors.
1. As already stated, many companies don’t make it easy for EEs to check email while out of the office. I have a smart phone but my company won’t set me up to access email on it due to it being a personal device (even if I wanted it and paid for the service), they won’t give me a company phone because it isn’t “required” for my position, and we don’t have any sort of webmail access. I doubt my experience is all that uncommon.
2. The post focuses on customer service, especially for external customers. Many EEs who receive initial customer inquiries/communications (I could go further and say hourly staff are often the ones who do the core work of the business) are hourly/non-exempt staff. You want me to encourage them to be reading emails and be available/ connected 24/7? Sounds like an FSLA/ time keeping/ overtime nightmare to me.
3. Conversely, how many of your salaried/ exempt level staff regularly handle urgent customer/ business/ core needs? How many of these people really need to be “connected” all the time for the business to function successfully? In most cases life, and business, will go on.
I won’t jump straight to ‘you are a tyrant’, but I disagree with this post.
Lance – I think deep down you get what I’m saying here. There is a time and place – and a way – in which someone can use the autoresponder. It is not used well IMHO.
I realize I generalize on the “disengagement” thing – but, in general (there I go again!) the folks I see using it a LOT – are those that are disengaged. It’s a freebie for them.
If you use the autoresponder well – good for you. If not – read this again and ask – “is there a better way?” That’s all I’m doing.
Shawn – it’s not about 24/7 – the autoresponder does nothing to fix that problem. I’m saying don’t use it bounce the responsibility for responding to a work email and think you’ve done your job.
Also, in most companies people associated with customer service have pretty robust back up and contingency plans in place should someone be out of pocket. This post mostly goes to exempt workers who fought to get a BB and then put an out of office on it every time they take a flight.
I was “out of the office” on a cruise ship in another time zone without reliable e-mail access. And no cell coverage. Some of the e-mails I receive can only be answered by me, not my staff.
I would rather have the sender know that my response may be delayed by being out of the office, but I would get back to them.
I am in the service business. I’d rather people know I’ll get back to them instead of wondering why I am not responding.
Steve Potestio
Steve – as I have said multiple times – there are reasons to let people know you are out of the office. I get that. There will always be reasons for that.
I also get that sending a note that tells people you’re out of the office is a nice thing to do.
Telling them to resend and email to someone else isn’t. Telling them that you won’t respond until you get back isn’t (unless, like 100 of you pointed out you’re on a cruise, on Mr. Everest or some such thing.) I get that.
This post is about addressing the 2 standard deviations of application from the mean – there will ALWAYS be exceptions… I get that.
Next exception – on the moon? Okay – you get a pass. Traveling to Peoria – you don’t. Answer your email.
Totally disagree with the idea that “out of office” means disengaged.
Wow, using my OOO makes me disengaged…thank God my manager didn’t see it that way when it came time for my review. Which I nailed because I am totally engaged!
I’m the type that answers email relatively quickly due to my high demand/visible role. So yes, I use my OOO so people know, I’m out but you can always reach ___ or wait. On the other hand, I can’t stand it when people don’t use theirs and I’m waiting on a response, only to find out, instead of waiting for days for Jim to respond, I could have gone to Mike.
I’d rather send that second email…which by the way is normally just a forward of the one I just sent to the original recipient. It’s not that big a deal to me…as the client.
I have to admit, when I hire consultants I look for the total package – including their ability to “take a break”. If a consultant told me (and yes this is as a former consultant myself), they are always plugged in…it raises alarm bells. I’d question the quality of their work (no one can always be “on”) and the faith they have in their subordinates (scared to let them exercise some autonomy out of fear or control).
Okay… one more time… using OOO doesn’t make you disengaged – using OOO poorly makes you disengaged. Also, this is not about taking a break – it’s about using OOO as a fake break and not engaging when you should.
And… I don’t think it is the initial emailers responsibility to resend the email – it’s the recipients responsibility to get it to the right person.
As a Gen-Y, I do expect these out-of-office reply from my older generation, sure, they care about the work-life-balance, and I’m not saying that they’re wrong. I do have an out-of-office auto reply when I am away, but it sounds more like this:
Dear name,
I am on a business trip but don’t worry I will reply your email as soon as I get online. Please accept my apology if there’s any delay in my reply, and thank you for your e-mail.
Sincerely,
Me
Hah, I guess there’s a good edge being gen-Y =) now who wants to hire me? =D
just to share, i think the author is looking from different perspective. If I am working very hard and in urgency need to get something over the email and get an OOO reply, I would think that the recipient doesn’t care. IN PERCEPTION ONLY.
In the defense of the author, I think this article meant to say, “hey you know what, what you think is good, but see it from another angle…”. Look beyond what you see, right?
and just to share with you, here’s an OOO I got from my (REAL) client one time. He’s a Phd, Managing Director of a well-known company providing psychometric training to HRs:
Dear you,
Thank you for your email.
I am running intensive training (in …) between (time) inclusive and I also have a number of after-hours appointments booked during this time. If I have any time at all to respond to emails, I will be slower than usual! I kindly advise you to contact our support team for a much faster response by going to: (website address)
Please also note that as soon as I complete the training in (location) I will head to the (another location) for 2 weeks of (work). I will generally be busy most of the time there, however, I will try to make myself available in the late afternoon to take urgent client phone calls on my (local) cell. Whilst I am happy to take calls during that time, I would still advise those who prefer to email to contact our support team as I will not be placing a priority upon emails. To avail my (local) cell number, please call any of our offices and request it. I am not providing it here so that spammers don’t get it! Please only call between (this date and that date) and between (this time and that time) (my local time).
Kind regards,
Your client.
Seriously? You’re very diligent sir! and that exclamation mark sir! is very convincing! and those who emailed you are called spammers??? i wonder how your client would feel if they emailed you and received that OOO email.
Kolz… that is the perfect example of someone using email OOO to disengage.
This is and excuse to not respond more than a helpful way of responding.
I disagree with your contention that using OOO equals disengaged. You said it yourself in the comments — there are better ways to use OOO. It doesn’t mean not to use it, just use it in a way that is most helpful for your customers. As you can see from many of the commenters there are lots of really sound reasons why using OOO makes sense. If you continue to contend that workers who use it are disengaged, you are mistaken.
I will NEVER turn on out of office again. You’re so right! I am checking emails anyway and responding. So why tell others I don’t care.
Also, a lifesaver for me with voicemails has been forwarding my work phone to my cell phone and having Google Voice turn them into text messages. I never miss a thing anymore!
Life is more important than work so how about a nice seperation at times? (vacation, You won’t list on your Tombstone “I wish I would have worked more”
but you will have regrets you didn’t spend more time with your family.
In our society, work is valued too much.
I see your point. I do agree that the OOO shouldn’t leave the customer hanging and I like your idea of auto-forwarding the issue for the client’s convenience.
Paul,
I re-read your article with your thought process in mind of what you were trying to convene (gleaned from your comments) and that is not what your post is about. Sorry just the truth.
I love this blog. And you didn’t say people couldn’t take vacations, be sick etc. Just don’t make the client/customer send two emails. Right on….