by Graham Davies
Imagine sending an email like this to a colleagues, a supplier or a client:
"Thanks for your email, but I just don't care enough about you to read it or give you a 5-word response. I am on vacation, so I don't give a toss about you."
That is precisely the message you are presenting about yourself whenever a piece of software sends out an Out of Office Auto-Response that indicates you will not be accessing emails due to your on-holiday mode.
There really is no excuse for this presentational callousness. And yes, you are still presenting yourself and your business when you are on vacation, whether you like it or not. Of course, people do come up with alot of excuses for being incommunicado:
- I work a 70 hour week, so I am entitled to a complete rest
- There are other people who can deal with anything that is likely to come up
- My spouse forbids me from looking at work emails when we are on holiday
The third excuse is so beneath contempt that I won't even point out how risible it is. If there really is someone you totally trust to deal with everything as well as you could, then fair enough (but are you sure??). But surely you cannot really rest on your sunbed in the knowledge that you might have hundreds of unexploded bombs waiting in your in-box?
Everyone can afford a blackberry. But no-one can afford to present the image of someone who sticks their fingers in their ears and says LA LA LA rather than spending at least 30 minutes a day checking their email....no matter how exotic their location.
If you don't follow my advice, it is just possible that you won't be spending quite so much time on expensive vacations in the future.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO ADD A COMMENT OR DISCUSS THE ABOVE ARTICLE WITH FELLOW READERS, PLEASE CLICK ON THE COMMENTS LINK BELOW.
This article actually says what most employers are thinking but never emphasise. Comapnies - and their employees - go on and on about how one of the benefits of their job is the use of a company mobile phone. Why do you think some employers give employees Blackberries and say that "within reason" they can maker personal use of it ?? Because they also expect you to answer work emails out of work.
ReplyDeleteOh and another thing as well - what really gets to me is employees that complain about this - lets face it - no employee spends 100 % of their time at work working - there is always some leisure downtime too. so why does it seem so unjustifyable to take out a few minutes of a vacation to answer emails? This article doesn't cover this aspect, but I feel this is important to point out too!
From a frustrated sole trader - who is tired of fortunate, lazy employees who complain about sometimes having to answer emails outside working hours!
Yes thats right - and what about studies showing a little time off can really help productivity? That is not mentioned at all. The first person leaving a comment is just biased as he / she is a sole trader. Bottom line, everyone needs a break. Why do you think there are so many burn outs in the city? What a silly comment to make.
ReplyDeleteI think a refreshed mind can help to provide better answers to emails than an exhausted mind - drained by having to answer emails on a Blackberry all the time.
Katerina - Graham speaks of 30 minutes a day - not stuck answering emails on your Blackberry all day every day -so you would still benefit from that much needed break - it would be just the right balance - on vacation, but not completely out of touch with the office - so that when yo do get back, you're not absolutely clueless as to what's been going on in your absence!
ReplyDelete