Every team has a “Sam.”
The person who approves requests.
The one key stakeholder who keeps processes moving.
And the moment they go on vacation… everything grinds to a halt.
Approvals stop.
Tickets pile up.
SLAs are breached.
Teams get frustrated – and end-users feel it first.
This is one of the biggest hidden challenges in Jira Service Management (JSM). And it’s exactly why we built Out of Office Assistant for Jira, an app designed to keep work flowing even when essential team members are unavailable.
In our recent webinar, Frederike (Fredi) Häusel and Christiaan Joubert show how the Out of Office Assistant eliminates bottlenecks, protects SLAs, and ensures seamless service continuity across HR, IT, Facilities, Procurement, and more.
The recording is now available on-demand – and if your organization uses JSM, this is a must-watch.
Why Out-of-Office Bottlenecks Are So Costly
The webinar opens with a scenario every team recognizes:
Sam, a department head, approves HR support requests.
Sam goes on vacation.
Suddenly… every pending approval stops.
Tickets remain untouched, SLAs slip, and co-workers aren’t even aware issues are waiting. Even worse – new requests continue being assigned to Sam, piling into a queue no one sees.
This is where Out of Office Assistant steps in.
Introducing Out of Office Assistant for Jira
Tiaan introduces the solution:
A powerful automation add-on that keeps work moving even when people aren’t at their desks.
With Out of Office Assistant, you can:
Automatically delegate approvals and assignments
Prevent bottlenecks before they occur
Protect SLAs and response times
Ensure visibility for colleagues and stakeholders
Keep service operations running smoothly across all departments
When Sam leaves, Alex is automatically assigned as the coverer. No manual reassignment. No surprises.
A Deep Dive Into Core Features
In the feature walkthrough, Christiaan showcases the full power of the app, including:
Out-of-Office rules & coverers
Set who will take over tasks and approvals during an absence.
Bulk delegation for existing issues
Stop backlog buildup by automatically reassigning already-in-progress tasks.
JQL filters for precise controls
Delegate only specific categories of tickets.
Coverers automatically added as watchers
Ensures full transparency and visibility.
User View dashboard
See all upcoming absences and coverage gaps at a glance.
Round-robin support that skips absent agents
Your queue stays balanced and efficient.
Integrations with Outlook, Google Workspace, Slack & Tempo
Activate and manage out-of-office rules from your team’s daily tools.
Live Demo: Real Workflows in Action
In one of the most engaging parts of the webinar, Christiaan and Fredi demonstrate the app in a real-world scenario.
A rule is created for Sam.
Everything Sam was working on automatically shifts to Alex.
New issues assigned to Sam instantly reroute with an OOO notification.
Slack/Email rule activation is showcased for teams using integrations.
Fredi even shows the assignee’s perspective, demonstrating the notifications and the automatic comments letting users know that Sam is unavailable – and Alex has already stepped in.
The result:
No lags. No bottlenecks. No “Where’s Sam?” moments ever again.
Why Teams Love Out of Office Assistant
In the closing section, Fredi recaps the biggest benefits:
Continuous workflow – no need to wait for someone to return.
Transparency – users instantly see OOO messages and know who is covering.
Ease of management – rules can be reused for every vacation.
Efficiency – activate OOO status from Slack, Outlook, Google Workspace, or Jira.
SLA Compliance – response times remain intact, keeping service performance high.
Tiaan adds practical rollout advice for teams, including:
Start with key approvers
Expand to HR and IT
Use dashboards for holiday-season planning
Take advantage of integrations for faster activation
Watch the Full Webinar Recording
This webinar is perfect for:
✔ Jira Service Management admins
✔ HR, IT, Facilities & Procurement teams
✔ Service managers
✔ Operations leaders
✔ Anyone responsible for SLA commitments
If out-of-office gaps have ever slowed your workflows – this recording will show you how to fix it permanently.
👉 Watch the full on-demand webinar now
👉 Try Out of Office Assistant for Jira Cloud
👉 Book a one-on-one demo with our team
Keep your team productive – even when they’re out of office.
