“Thank you for your email. I’m OOO this week. If there is an emergency, please use a fire extinguisher.”
This is that lovely time of the year when people are taking much needed breaks. The office starts to get half empty, and if you send out emails, most will receive some kind of automatic reply.
Since I’m in the data/analytics/reporting space, I tend to send emails to large groups of people, so I’ve seen almost every possible type of auto-reply.
And I’ve come to realize that OOO replies tell more about company culture and you than any values slide ever will.
It’s just a simple note, but it’s really a temporary break for our minds. It proves we only set limits when we're forced to, like on vacation.
That OOO is our permission slip. It lets us drop the constant need to be available, without any guilt.
If you think about it, the corporate rules are kind of strange:
When I am here, my reply speed defines my worth.
When I am away, I am untouchable.
The OOO is the only socially sanctioned way to tell demands to wait.
The four types of OOO confession
1. "I’ll have limited access to email." Translation: I will absolutely read everything, panic about half of it, and respond to things I shouldn't. Classic middle management: You don't trust the system not to explode. Your reply is less about vacation plans and more about workplace fear.
2. "I’m fully offline until January 2." This person has boundaries, or finally stopped caring. Hard to tell. Either way, respect. A functional team should survive a week without you (if not, that’s a January problem for someone else).
3. "For urgent matters, contact [Name]." The name you put there is the one people trust to fix a mess, not necessarily the one with the biggest office. It's the org chart of actual responsibility.
4. The Novel Three paragraphs explaining their year, their travel plans, and their personal philosophy on winter. Bless them. A clear sign they don't feel seen enough. They use your inbox as their personal newsletter subscriber list.
A final thought
Which one of these four groups are you?
In a way your auto-reply is a mirror of how safe you feel to step away. If you’re writing apologies or escape routes, that’s a sign that the system, not you, needs to relax.
So, let December be December. Set your reply and close the laptop. Enjoy the sound of silence in your inbox.
And if for whatever reason you have to work during this time of the year. Well, sometimes you have to do what you have to do - hopefully it’s for the right reasons.
Happy Holidays and see you next Tuesday.