Acting On An Out Of Office

When I was on holiday last week (Cornwall – very lovely!) I dipped into my work inbox every so often, leafing for anything urgent and/or exciting. In addition to common themes around spooky season and cyber sales month, I noticed an overlook of my ‘out of office’, with countless follow-ups to emails sent since the auto-reply was set.

Okay, so I too was guilty of ignoring the fact that I wasn’t at work – switching off isn’t my strong point – but I thought it was worth flagging in this forum given how frequently it came from PRs.

It may be impossible to monitor all bounce-backs stating when press are contactable. But, post-hols, receiving a delayed, tailored response has been very welcome. For example, “Spotted you were on AL, so hopefully this goes to the top of your inbox for when you’re back!” is helpful. In my view, duplicates of emails are not a problem once you’re logged on properly, but a backlog of multiple versions of the same information makes for a maze no one has time for.

As it’s been a while since I’ve taken a week off, it also made me think I should reiterate my postal preferences. At least 20 work-related parcels, propped up on my porch, welcomed me home which was both thrilling and a little embarrassing (my neighbours must picture me a shopaholic). While gratefully received, I’ll be carting the majority – being product samples – back to the Hearst offices once tried to be stored in our beauty cupboard. As my email signature states, unless there’s anything perishable or personal in a mailer, it’s best to kindly delivery it there.

So, in essence, my message today is that reading and acting on a journalist’s ooo or email signature note isn’t as common as you’d think. Yet, as one of the simplest ways to show your shrewdness, I’d highly recommend it.