These are the 4 new rules of OOO

These are the 4 new rules of OOOThese are the 4 new rules of OOOClear out your inbox. Tidy up your desk (buh-bye, two-day old coffee cup). Send a note with next steps for lingering projects. Pick-up sunscreen on your lunch break. And set your out of office (OOO) - or not?Preparing to be off the grid and dis-attached from the unhealthy relationship you have with your work phone usually feels complete once you turn on your out of office, signaling youre unavailable for a hot second. After all, its the voreingestellt practice and corporate protocol.If you were out sick, on vacation or taking a leave, it was helpful to create the automatic response that would alert people you werent in the office and let them know whom to contact if they needed help in your absence, Maggie Mistral, career and executive coach explains.Relatively speaking, these reciprocal messages are a rather new concept themselves, since they only became necessary once schmelzglas grew in popularity over the last few d ecades. Their purpose, of course, was to let clients, employees, managers, or other personnel you come in contact with know that you might not be as responsive as you typically are because youre freed from your cubicle chains.But in the new realm of working, where most assignments can be completed with a laptop and many professionals are expected to check-in even when theyre on a secluded beach in another timezone, have the rules of OOOs changed?Here, a modern look at OOOs - and whether you need one at all.They dont have to only be for vacationSince most communication transpires over email instead of good ole fashion telephone lines these days, you probably have far more unopened digital messages than voicemails. For some digital professionals who conduct the majority of their geschftsleben thanks to mail systems, an automatic response isnt just reserved for when theyre traveling, but all the time. This helps to cut back on the number of follow up or confirming you received this pi ngs that are often unnecessary and disruptive to workflow.As industrial-organizational psychology practitioner and workplace expert, Amy Cooper Hakim, Ph.D explains, this OOO practice is useful in setting expectations on response time. While you might want to be mindful of your managers perception on this tactic, if you can make a case on why it saves time while ensuring clients or other teams in your company, you might find a more efficient balance.They dont have to be stuffyFrom signing off with the right balance of friendliness and professionalism to the appropriate time to CC a higher-up, there are certain scripts we all follow in the best practices of corporate emailing. That being said, if your industry prides itself on creativity and is open-minded to transparency and humor, career expert Margie M. Mauldin says to have a little fun with your OOO.Instead of the stuffy standard that dictates while youre away from your regular working hours, consider a few one-liners that might incite laughter on the other end.As an example, she suggestsWhere are you? VacationHow is it? RelaxingWill I be happy to be home on date? MaybeWill I be busy playing catch-up? YesWill I get back to you when I can? You betThey can be unnecessary with new methods of workCareer expert and founder of the HR firm Gray Scalable Charlie Gray says the new lifestyle that blends work with life more cohesively is taking away the need for OOO. Instead, many people choose to be available, or at least, check-in, even when theyre touring Europe or backpacking through Southeast Asia. And since millennials are leaning toward remote work and more companies are offering unlimited vacation, most employees never go more than a day or two without responding.They can be replaced with a virtual assistantDepending on your email provider, Mistal says some out of offices can actually wreck havoc on servers, causing your address to go to spam for too much output.As a way to avoid this, Mistral explains some pr ofessionals are leaning away from the standard OOO and toward virtual assistants instead.Ive experienced an uptick in spam in the past after putting on an out of office because an out of office confirms your email address is valid. And valid emails are the ones solicitors want when sending spam. In lieu of an out of office message, Ive had a virtual assistant check my email box during my extended absence and let me know via phone/text if something needs addressing, she says.A virtual assistant can save you the headache of worrying about missing an important email, because someone will be on guard to prompt you when youre needed.And when youre not? Logging offline and picking up another margarita is encouraged.