My work and most corporate office jobs involve a lot of e-mails. Whether there are notes to / from co-workers, suppliers, customers, or other, I am estimating roughly 500 sent and 500 received e-mails is probably about right for an individual in an average month. Of course some notes are of substance while others are quick one liners, similar to text messages.
Much earlier this year, I mentioned to a colleague how I had just received a slew of e-mails all starting with “I hope you are doing well”, “I hope you are well”, “I hope this note finds you well”, etc. I commented how cliche and unoriginal and fake that comes off as, and my colleague was a bit taken aback. Kind of shocked to be honest. After all who including myself hasn’t started an e-mail introduction that way many times before? Over the past months I have changed or upgraded my ‘e-mail etiquette’ and it has been thought provoking, so I am blogging about it.
I am not saying it is not genuine when someone types “I hope you are doing well”, however there are definitely varying contexts – Receiving an e-mail from a co-worker you only see on occasion is different than receiving an unsolicited e-mail from a supplier you have never been in contact with, which is also different than hearing from someone you met with in person last week. Yet in all three instances the sender hopes I am doing well? It is a nice, generic, friendly opener that conveys the message you have good intentions. And that’s great…
However it is a bit meaningless. It is nice that you hope things are fine, however why not begin your e-mail with something of more substance, or ask a question, or make a statement. Or… can you imagine it… just get to the point! Here are a number of alternative openers:
- How are you?
- What’s new?
- It has been a while since we last connected.
- I am reaching out as recently…
- I am working on a project and would like to ask for your input…
- Attached please find the requested information.
- Would you please be able to review…
- Kindly provide the current status of…
There are many different options, all more authentic then a broad generic well-being statement. If you can’t jump on the phone with the recipient or talk to them in person, I find it is much more meaningful to actually think about what you’re typing, in specific and genuine terms. If you want to know how the person is doing, just ask, be curious. If you want to get straight to business, directly ask the question, skip the fluff.
With regards to level of formality, it depends upon the recipient and how well you know them. Sometimes a ‘What’s Up? is just fine, and most often times the requisite ‘Good Afternoon’ sets the tone. I would caution against always defaulting to such a formal etiquette however, while also being careful not to sound immature, it’s a balance of being your authentic self and getting the appropriate message conveyed in a confident manner.
Again while there are many different contexts for e-mails, I have observed a unique parallel between upper management and also the folks on the floor who have a ton of work on their plate – They get straight to the point – concise, clear, direct, results-oriented. Fluff statements and connections aren’t worth the time.
That all said, as I have been integrating these changes into my own e-mail communications, and growing professionally, I would clearly emphasize that I am not encouraging folks to be rude or impolite in their e-mails, as in fact our stakeholder relationships are one of the most valuable assets we have in business and need to be treated as such. I would simply suggest to think about what you write – Be authentic, productive, and pay attention to the details. It has helped me and it will help you stand out professionally from the masses of generic emails and personnel. Communication is a key leadership skill.
Just for kicks I ran a quick analytic on one of my e-mail archives and found 147 messages containing the phrase “I hope you are doing well” and another 174 stating “I hope you are well”. Haha….
Now that is said and done, on a more relaxed note – I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, may your holidays be filled with good cheer and much happiness. And I do mean that quite literally and as intended. Hahah. 🙂
Thank you for reading my various, sometimes random, hopefully always unique blog posts throughout 2018, I hope you have enjoyed reading as much as I have enjoyed writing!
Happy Holidays,
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