Away Message Basics

Today I received 3 away message autoresponders when I sent out my Weekly E-mail Etiquette Tips that were stating the receipient would be back in the office on Monday. This past Monday, August 28th.

When using away messages, especially for business there are several things you need to consider:

1. Most importantly, if your e-mail address is subscribed to any discussion mailing lists, unsub before your engage your away message. Otherwise, each time a message is sent from the list, your autoresponder will go out to everyone else who gets posts to the list. You may find that you are unsubbed by the list owner and may even have some unpleasant e-mails waiting for you from other list members upon your return.


2. Create a message that is brief, includes your return date and who can be contacted in your absence and their contact information. A note stating you will respond promptly to pending messages upon your return is a nice touch too.


3. Engage your away message right before you leave to go away and do not intend on responding to any further e-mails until you return.


4. Right then and there, write yourself a note, post-it or put it in red letters on your calendar by your computer to take down the autoresponder when you get back. Make this one of the first things that you do upon your return. If you want to give the perception of being unorganized or forgetful, have away messages going out that are outdated.


5. Upon your return, make it a priority to respond promptly to waiting messages. You don't want folks wondering if their messages got lost in the shuffle or make them feel they are not important to you.

HTH! ;-)