Work out of office messages - brisk or fluffy?

[Lottapianos]

I've just had an OOO message from a colleague along these lines:

'Hi, I'm currently on leave, returning on X date when I hope I will be rested and renewed
I promise I'll reply when Im not so snowed under by emails
Wishing you an easy and relaxing day
Name'

I don't know this person at all well - they come across as v competent but pretty twee and cutesy as well, people pleasing I guess. I find the out of office message pretty cringe but it did make me laugh, and I guess it's a change from the usual!

What do you think - should OOO messages be brisk and factual, or warm and fluffy?

It shows they are utterly self absorbed. That is what it shows. No one cares, or if they do, they are your friend / close colleague and you have had the conversation one on one or on Teams etc.

If they don't come back rested and renewed are they not going to reply? That's what I would infer - oh and they are very busy and very important "snowed under". Good grief the terminally busy.

Depends on the environment I suppose but to me that OOO was a bit over-the-top and personal. I think an OOO should be professional, factual and polite. There's no real need for fluffy words.

I'm brisk and factual.

I can’t see how it impacts on anyone else.

It impacts anyone reading it who has to wade through the fluff to find the information they need.

I received one recently and I'm still rolling my eyes.

"I'm currently on vacation in Bali and aim to be totally present whilst in this beautiful part of the world. Add to the this the time difference, I may be delayed in replying to your message"

What the fuck?

I also recieved one a while back along the lines of "after the wedding of my dreams, I am currently on honeymoon and will not be checking my emails very often. Please also note I will be using my married name going forwards so please note my new email address"

Urgh.

Both internal as well.

Bali wasn't the actual location, but in that ballpark.

Here is the one for my online shops - mainly directed at the USA.

Our shop is currently closed for seasonal vacation returning on XX.

We are unable to respond to customer enquiries at this time.

All paid for orders have been dispatched and are in transit. For shipped orders please use the tracking information supplied in your dispatch notice or check your account for details.

We wish all our customers a happy holiday and a peaceful and prosperous new year.

Is this colleague a ‘bring your whole self to work’ type, by any chance?

'I received one recently and I'm still rolling my eyes.
"I'm currently on vacation in Bali and aim to be totally present whilst in this beautiful part of the world. Add to the this the time difference, I may be delayed in replying to your message"'

🤦🏻‍♂️🤣

'Is this colleague a ‘bring your whole self to work’ type, by any chance?'

Yes, 💯

Depends what for, for me.
Internally I occasionally enjoy knowing why a colleague is away if they're wanting to share good news eg. "I'm out of office as my awesome daughter is graduating!" or "I'll be on leave this week visiting my new grandbaby!" . I work in quite a friendly, not-very-corporate office. Lots of people will also specify when it's sick leave (so you don't get lots of questions how your holiday was!). Don't need to go into detail, a simple OOO is also fine (but I HATE when it doesn't tell me who to contact in your absence!)
External OOO reply always brisk, factual, contact X in my absence, etc.

I think it depends on the role, business and person, I can’t get too hot and bothered about a bit of personality.

My email OOO is professional and to the point. My Teams message are sometimes a little more relaxed ‘I’m travelling to the LA office and will be on Pacific Time, apologies for the delay in my response’ or ‘I’m off for today enjoying some sunshine and will be back Wednesday’

In our business this isn’t out of place, the CEO could have written these and no one would judge her for it.

We are all human after all, a little personalisation isn’t a problem in my company.

Brisk and factual all the way. I would ask my team members to change it if any of them wrote something as cringe as that.

Mine is generally brisk and factual, but at this time of the year I do also include a line about wishing people an enjoyable Christmas break. I don't think that's overly fluffy...

My colleague who works part-time has her OOO on ALL THE TIME, even when she's in the office. Then she complains 'people still contact me' - well, yes, because you do actually still get paid to work 3 days out of 5! Drives me nuts, so lazy.