I write my 𝗢𝘂𝘁 𝗢𝗳 𝗢𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗲 like I write everything else: for humans.

Most Out Of Office messages are painfully dull.

'𝘐'𝘮 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘭,' might be factually correct, but it doesn’t tell me anything about you.

That’s a missed opportunity.

Because your OOO doesn’t just have to be a holding message, it can be a valuable piece of marketing real estate; a micro-window into how you work or how you think. And in my case, what I'm doing when I’m not replying as quickly as I usually would.

Sometimes that means I’m delivering a keynote. Or running a client workshop. Or spending a day away from my desk, doing research, on a Compliance In The Wild safari or just letting ideas breathe.

Whatever form it takes, I try to reflect it in my Out of Office.

Not because I think everyone needs to know my schedule — and some details don't need to be shared — but because my business 𝘪𝘴 me. And that means I want my tone of voice to come through, even in the automated bits.

I’m not always strictly out of office. But if I’m a bit slower to reply than usual, there’s often a good, hopefully interesting, reason why. And I’d rather share that in a human way.

It sets expectations and provides a conversation piece the next time I speak to people, while also offering a glimpse behind the scenes. More often than not, people reply that it's refreshing to read something that sounds like a real person. Some even borrow the idea.

So next time you’re setting your OOO, ask yourself: is this just admin, or could it also be a small act of brand building?