I think OOO messages are for those times when you dont want the pressure of responding to client emails. It has nothing to do with how often you are actually doing work. It's just a warning to your clients that they should not expect an immediate response from you. However, if a message comes through and you do decide to respond, you can start your message with "I am currently away from the office, but was quickly checking email. I wanted to address your concern/respond to your request/quickly provide clarification......We can discuss in better detail when I am back in the office". That's it. I think sometimes business owners feel guilty becauae they think if they are actually working, it's dishonest to have an OOO message. But if you have set office hours for client communication, your really just setting boundaries.
Thanks so much for chiming in. You are right about how much of all of my hang ups are in my head. And I place such a high priority on honesty that I think you peeked into my soul a bit about the "guilt of being dishonest". Boundary setting does not mean dishonesty! Thanks for the reminder!
And loved the template text for when we DO want to reply but also have an OOO responder set up. This is just great all around.
I think OOO messages are for those times when you dont want the pressure of responding to client emails. It has nothing to do with how often you are actually doing work. It's just a warning to your clients that they should not expect an immediate response from you. However, if a message comes through and you do decide to respond, you can start your message with "I am currently away from the office, but was quickly checking email. I wanted to address your concern/respond to your request/quickly provide clarification......We can discuss in better detail when I am back in the office". That's it. I think sometimes business owners feel guilty becauae they think if they are actually working, it's dishonest to have an OOO message. But if you have set office hours for client communication, your really just setting boundaries.
Thanks so much for chiming in. You are right about how much of all of my hang ups are in my head. And I place such a high priority on honesty that I think you peeked into my soul a bit about the "guilt of being dishonest". Boundary setting does not mean dishonesty! Thanks for the reminder!
And loved the template text for when we DO want to reply but also have an OOO responder set up. This is just great all around.