Yesterday, I received the following out-of-office reply which I’m still trying to form an opinion on:
Thank you for your email. I’m currently out of the office from January 13th to January 17th and won’t be checking my inbox during this time.
I’ll be deleting all emails received during this period. If your matter is urgent, you can reach me on my mobile. Please feel free to resend your email on or after January 20th, and I’ll respond as soon as possible.
Thank you for your understanding.
It’s the first time I’ve received a response like this, and it fundamentally questions the onus of responsibility with emails.
The traditional out-of-office reply places the onus on the receiver, where they’ll get back to you once they return from leave.
This new version places the onus on the sender, where they must resend the email if they want action taken.
I see pros and cons to both approaches, and I’m not sure I could personally use this new version (but maybe that’s because it’s such a different way of doing things and I need to warm up to it?).
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.
Is this something you’re seeing more and more of?
Is this something you’re using yourself or thinking of trying?
Would the culture of your company allow for this new version to be used?
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