These fun OOO messages are a great way to express yourself and engage with coworkers, prospects, and customers without being boring

It’s vacation season! Don’t forget to set your out-of-office messages before you go!

Here are some clever examples you could use to make your OOO messages more entertaining.

What Should My Out-Of-Office Message Contain?

First and foremost, let’s review the fundamentals of an OOO email. You usually include the following in your away message:

• A simple “I’m out of the office” statement.
• The day and time you’ll be gone.
• Who to contact if the sender requires quick assistance.
• Signing off.

If you put it all together, your autoresponder would look like this:

“Hi there,

Thanks for your email. I’m currently out of the office until mm/dd/yyyy. If you need help, email my colleague at colleague@example.com.

Best,

[Name]”

A little boring, but it gets the job done. Or… you could liven up your message with one of these:

• I’ll email you back once I’ve defrosted.
• I’ll get back to you when I return to civilization.
• If you need to reach me, you can’t. Instead, reach out to [person and email they can contact].
• The bad news is that I’m out of the office. The good news is that I’m out of the office.
• I am currently out of the office and probably chilling on the beach. Enjoy your workweek.
• Can you guess where I am?
• Alexa, play Vacation by Dirty Heads.
• The doorbell just rang. It’s the UPS driver. He’s loading me onto the truck.

Of course, you can always add a couple of emojis to let people know you’re just trying to be silly or add gifs or photos for entertainment purposes. You may want to add an additional line explaining why you’re out. Hopefully, the receiver won’t be too upset they can’t reach you for a few days and be happy that you are getting to spend some time away from work because you made them giggle a little.

How to Be Funny But Still Professional

Now, all of these OOO messages are a great way to express yourself and engage with coworkers, prospects, and customers. It’s still crucial to maintain a professional demeanor and keep your jokes’ content PG to PG13.

It’s also crucial that your sense of humor isn’t so self-deprecating that it hurts your reputation, or that if you’re more sarcastic, you’re not hurting anyone and it’s evident that you’re joking. Here are some pointers on how to be hilarious while remaining professional:

• Keep content PG to PG13
• Make it clear you’re joking by using emojis or laughing at your own jokes
• Be lighthearted
• Don’t ever poke fun at anyone else or make a joke at someone’s expense

Office Jokes That’ll Make Your Workday A Little More Fun

By Leslie Radford