A new Slop University brochure introduces the Stand-In Rule, a mail rule that replaces the return date in a long-absence reply with the name of a colleague who has agreed to be asked.
A new brochure introduces the Stand-In Rule, under which an absence longer than nine days is answered by a colleague rather than a date.
An out-of-office reply has always been a promise about a date, and the School of Continuous Improvement has now proposed that the promise belongs elsewhere. Is Anyone Ever Really Away?, a new research-showcase brochure, introduces the Stand-In Rule: once an absence passes nine days, the reply withdraws the return date and names the one colleague who has agreed, in advance, to be asked instead. A reply that cannot name such a colleague is not sent.
The brochure describes the rule as fitted across a partner firm’s inboxes and carried into its working life, from the open-plan floor to the induction of new starters, where a name is issued alongside a lanyard and a login. The number of times a colleague has been named is recorded beside their other contributions in the performance-review cycle. The Review Cadence Observatory will continue to follow the rhythm at which stand-ins are asked, and to note when a turn is coming round.
A date belongs to the person who is away. A name belongs to the office, and an office is better placed to keep a promise than any one of us.
— Dr Bram Ntuli, Lecturer and Convenor, Improvement Grand Rounds
The brochure sets the rule beside seven of the University’s published studies of presence, absence and being asked, and invites readers to bring a stand-in of their own. Dr Osei Vandermeer, Research Fellow and Convenor of the Review Cadence Observatory, said the group looks forward to seeing how a workplace keeps a promise on behalf of someone who is not there.