Out-of-office messages are not only a part of proper work etiquette but also a great chance to inject your personality into a rather formal correspondence. More than that, with a wide spread of leave management systems, you can crack a joke or troll your team members using leave comments in your team calendar.
Let’s see what are out of office messages, have a laugh at 10 message examples and see how to use them in your team calendar.
What Is Out of Office Message?
Out-of-office messages (or OOO messages) usually refer to bounceback emails that notify people that the email address owner is not at work for an extended period of time. Instead, it offers guidance i.e. gives contacts of people to connect with in their absence or communicates the date when they’ll be available again. Out-of-office messages are considered a part of proper work etiquette for vacations, sick leave, and other lengthy absences.
Out-of-office messages are also a great way to brighten up a day for colleagues while having a vacation. To make sure that OOO messages will target only your colleagues, you can use your leave management system. Let’s see some real-life hilarious examples of out-of-office messages posted in actiPLANS by our team members (all names have been replaced with the fiction ones).
10 Funny Out Of Office Messages in actiPLANS
1. When your boss has a degree in humor
Let’s say, your boss doesn’t respond to you on Skype, so you went to check out the team calendar to see if they are available today. Looks like they are having time off to celebrate their birthday, but we bet you’d never expected a plot twist like this.
2. What happens if you don’t learn from sitcoms
Remember an episode of Friends where someone ate Ross’s sandwich? Here’s one of the possible examples of instant karma that that filthy criminal deserved in the series:
3. Colleagues who are tired or burnt out
Our jobs are not always fulfilling and fun. Sometimes due to things going on outside our jobs or due to extreme fatigue or even burnout, we literally drag ourselves to the office. Getting back on track can take some more time than your PTO balance allows you to. In times like these, you might post something like this in your leave management system:
4. That one colleague quitting their job to start a business
One of the most common reasons why people look for part-time jobs is that they are looking to start their own business while still earning an income. After an employee has discussed their quitting the job and they are finally excited to take a leap of faith, they might leave a message like this:
5. When you need a leave from having a leave
Not every leave of absence guarantees you time off work to recharge your batteries and spend beautiful days full of joy miles away from the office. While half of the office might be jealous of someone else’s extensive maternity leave, they are very likely not to be excited as much.
6. Dark humor jokes to cope with the pandemic
Making jokes about COVID-19 helps us get through these dark times. Many of us had to take extensive sick leaves to go through the illness or help our children and elderly family members to bear it. When a sick leave balance of one of your colleagues is exhausted, you might read a leave comment like this:
7. Postcard from a braggart colleague
Since the pandemic outrage, most of us have had less enjoyable vacations than before, if any, due to local and international restrictions. You probably have that one colleague that was overly braggart about their vacation trip in person, in social media and even in your leave management system.
8. That colleague with a witty sense of humor
Every team has that Chandler Bing type of person who is notable for their sarcastic and witty sense of humor. If sent on a training program, they might leave a leave comment like this:
9. When higher management goes on a business trip
When managers go on vacation or business trips, employees can sit back and enjoy the laid-back vibes in the office. To remind you that all good things eventually come to an end, your manager may leave a message like this:
10. Natural-born marauder colleague
Not everyone is born to be a wizard. But everyone can make their vacation time magical.
Ready to Introduce a Team Calendar?
Leave management software is a great way to streamline absence management in your company and share funny out of office messages if your company’s policy allows.
For example, actiPLANS provides an online team calendar and a handy mobile app where you can review team availability at a glance. More than that, it automatically adjusts leave balances according to accrue rules if you set up any and allows you to create custom leave types and statuses. Mobile app users can notify their team of running late or leaving early in a few taps.
Leave management in actiPLANS – create an unlimited number of leave types, get your team to request and plan their time off and review employee availability
And if you connect actiTIME time tracking software with actiPLANS, you’ll get a powerful time and absence management environment that will sync the data between the systems and facilitate your project management, leave tracking and accounting routines. Try actiPLANS for free using a 30-day trial (no credit card required).
