Ask a Manager in the media

by Alison Green on November 11, 2024

Here’s some coverage of Ask a Manager in the media recently:

I talked to Vanity Fair about how human you should be in your out-of-office message.

Bloomberg cited Ask a Manager in a piece about election stress in the workplace.

I talked to Reader’s Digest about how to write a sick day email.

I talked to Fast Company about how to know if you should turn down a promotion.

Huffington Post quoted me on out-of-office messages.

The New York Post also quoted me on out-of-office messages.

Above the Law featured the recent AAM letter from the person whose coworkers were speculating that she was pregnant because she wasn’t drinking, and reminded people to stop gossiping about their coworkers’ fertility.

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{ 18 comments }

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  1. Strive to Excel*

    I’m howling at how the NYP article includes “[C]ompanies…applauded the viral video, calling Kessel a “genius” or saying that he has “main character” energy.”

    “Main character energy” is not a positive descriptor.

    1. Nobby Nobbs*

      For anyone who isn’t familiar with the phrase: it doesn’t refer to someone who is, acts like, or should be the main character of life. It refers to someone who clearly thinks they’re the main character of life, ie an a-hole.

    2. Spencer Hastings*

      The NYP article just sucked in general, IMO. The guy who wrote his OOO message to push back against “always on culture”, and the guy with the “things are not often urgent”…those OOOs are going to make people feel rebuked for just sending an email.

      I mean, I sometimes email a client and get an auto-response that they’re out of the office, and often I didn’t know that they were going to be out. If the auto-response also said “and by the way, you should feel bad for sending an email at all”…I just don’t see how that’s useful.

      For internal emails, yes, Outlook previews people’s OOO auto-response before you send. But often it’s a group email that they should be included on, so I’ll send it anyway. I’m not expecting them to answer or anything. Sometimes I’ll call it out, like “Alex — I think we’ll have this handled by the time you come back, but I wanted to keep you in the loop in any case.” But that doesn’t always make sense either.

  2. Ann O'Nemity*

    I don’t think anyone has to justify the reason they are on PTO, but I also love a unique out-of-office message! My coworker has a particular knack for writing humorous but still SFW ones.

    1. Strive to Excel*

      The only time I find any expansion on “I’m on PTO” necessary is when someone isn’t sure they’ll be back. Being on vacation has an end date, coming down with a cold is fuzzier. Even then, that’s pure logistics.

  3. Elle*

    I was surprised to see that using “I’m on PTO” rather than being specific is seen as…. A Thing. The article suggested it was related in some way to “quiet quitting.” My OOO messages include the date that I’ll return and contact information for who to contact for various matters while I’m out… and no more. I hope no one is viewing that as me being unengaged. I’m just trying to be efficient, y’all.

    1. Spencer Hastings*

      I can’t say I’ve heard “on PTO” in conversation myself; I still use “out of office”. There are cases where someone could be out of the office but not using PTO, after all. (Flexing their hours for an appointment, or at a conference or retreat, for instance.) I think what’s important to specify is the fact that they’re not available at their normal time/by their normal channels, and the general “out of office” conveys that.

    3. Esmerelda Margaret Note Spelling*

      At my previous workplace, we were explicitly encouraged in regular security training *not* to be more specific than “I’m out until [date]”. You don’t mention that you’re out of the country on a family holiday (translation: your home is unoccupied & ripe for burglary), nor that you’re visiting a specific client site (especially if it’s a sensitive client), nor even that you’ve gone on a short course to pursue your passion in Underwater Basket Weaving (social engineering attackers love personal details like these). It baffles me that declaring your exact whereabouts would ever be expected behaviour.

  4. Kes*

    I find it interesting that the sick day one recommends saying how long you’re planning to be out – that’s something I normally play by ear, so I’d just say that I’m out sick that day and then will message the next day if I’m still sick. That said I don’t generally email either – I just message my boss and project team on Slack and/or Teams

  7. NotAnotherManager!*

    I never thought I’d see ATL here – it’s like my blogosphere has come full-circle.

    I’ll also add to their commentary that a law degree does not keep someone from being gossipy, invasive, OR encouraging/doing something that is illegal.

  9. Compliance is fun*

    I work part-time – Mondays, Thursday and Fridays. It’s a new role and up until now I haven’t had to deal with anyone externally who would care that I don’t answer their email within a day or two. However that has changed recently and I’ve been in more frequent contact with some external people regarding more pressing matters. Should I put my work hours in my signature, out should I make a recurring OOO message for the two days I’m not in?

  11. Rep (taylor’s version)*

    I have been in the working world for 18 years and I have never put in the reason I was out of the office. For one, it would be easy to find my address and burgle me if I said I was out of town, out of the country, on a sunny beach in Colombia, etc. The most I specify is if I will be reachable (work trip) or not (personal leave).

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