26th
Why “Out Of Office” Email Responses Are Useless
Now that I’m working for a large corporation, I’m reading and sending more emails than ever before. And I’m receiving more auto-responses than ever before, too. Getting an email auto-reponse is sort of like calling someone to let them know you’ll be late. I guess it’s nice to know that you ran into traffic at rush hour, or that you’re having trouble finding parking, but frankly, what do I care? I’m still sitting here, alone, waiting for you.
With email in a big organization, I think the assumption is that if you are meant to act on something, you will do it as soon as possible. Thus, why do I need to know that you’re in Portland for a conference, or flying to Phoenix for a customer meeting? Just do what you need to do as soon as possible. I don’t need to know what the delay was; why brag about how someone else was the priority?
