OoOA
So, I sent an email to 49 of my legal marketing friends inviting them to check out legalwatercooler. Over 10% of my legal marketing friends were OoO, yesterday. As I read each OoOA message I decided that there must be a strategy to these messages. When I mentioned it to Heather M she told me she got binged for being OoO too much. “Does ms. milligan ever come to work?” The managing partner at my firm told me that I was not allowed to use OoOA. ” . . . that’s what we have our blackberries for.” So, do you post new messages every time you’re OoO? Do you include details that make it sound like you’re actually doing some thing OoO? What about vacation? Any clever tips on being OoO?
I love this. Yes, in my performance review at a prior firm a partner actually submitted a comment that while I was doing a good job, it appeared that I was out of the office a lot. Huh. I hadn’t taken a day off, I was traveling for business as was in my job description. (red flag, lol)My deal is this. If I am “working” anywhere in the world and am able to check my e-mail, my OoO is off. If I am really, really not available (on a plane), I’ll turn the OoO on, but indicate that I am traveling to our NY office and that I’ll be checking e-mails upons my landing. BTW, as an exempt employee, if I have “taken the day off” but get wrapped into major e-mail correspondance, I consider myself back on the clock. Appears that Federal law backs me up on that one (sorry, looks like I can’t hyperlink from the comments section. http://www.law.com/jsp/legaltechnology/pubArticleLT.jsp?id=1208861013044).
Wow, apparently I’m not with it. I’m on LinkedIn, Facebook, Myspace, Classmates, Plaxo and I have a blog… but I read your post three times before I could figure out that OoO is out of office. Duh.I use my OoO once a year, at most, when I have an official vacation and I want to be off the grid. And being off the grid is now a choice rather than forced – my B’berry has (unfortunately) worked all over the world, including in the ancient ruins of Peru!But still, many organizations including mine have an “out of sight, out of mind” culture. If they can’t reach me on the 1st ring or they drop by and I’m not there, they assume I’m unavailable when in fact I’m only two rings or an email away.
I don’t use Out of Office messages that much. I used to at my old firm because email there was out of control. Now I update my vmail daily with my status and monitor the old bberry.
TIMOTHY.BYIMBGO! TTIOT. CK it out at NetLingo. (blog spot doesn’t allow links in comments!) My unsolicited advice? AWLTP. SOMY?
I too receive a ton of OoOA messages when I send an email to a group. Here’s my thought (which seems to differ from a lot of yours): I tend to return calls immediately (and crack up when lawyers have a 24-hr call return policy!!) but if there is ever any reason I can’t get back to that person right away I want them to know why. If I’m on a business trip, I’m not just in another office. I am running nonstop from one appointment to the next until I answer emails at 11pm and eventually get to sleep. If my clients see my OoO messge they know that I can’t return their call in the next 5 minutes but will as soon as I am able. I do always include “I am traveling on business” so no one thinks I’m a slacker. If it’s a conference I’m at, I may even name the conference because often my clients will be headed there too.