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In my experience, if you’re the kind of sociopath who lays down a thick trowel load of passive aggression with a Thanks in advance, you’re probably also good at manipulating me into responding to your request with the rest of your email body too.
Thanks in advance for your constructive comments,
g.o
I often get slightly angry when the Mail is in the format of: Hi normal, Do this. Thanks. Greetings, projectmanager This implies to me that the other Party has decided my course of action and my time alocation without any discussion about my availability and if the approach makes sense.
Well it makes sense if that person is a manager of the project or not? You on the other side are the manager of your time. So if you answer "can't do, I am overbooked" it's as much of an directive for the other side. Edit: Given you work for more then one project.
So it is important to communicate and to discuss urgencys and eventual deadlines.
A similar structured reply would be.
Dear Projectlead,
I am unavailable to perform that task at the moment. Thanks.
Regards,
normal
And even if it is my DirectX superior, there is no need to involve thanks. Just write:
Hi normal,
I need you to do X until Y/immediatly.
Greetings, Projektmanager
When this is done you can thank me for performing the task, but otherwise it just feels like a structure telling me:
End of discussion!
I am able and willing to follow orders without this.
I hate it when people use thanks for everything . What, you're thanking me for reading the email announcing the re-org? It reads as mindless and weird. I'm a "best" guy. It's never inappropriate. Whether I'm promoting you, firing you, reporting up on progress or problems, "best" always works. (I'm not saying it's the best closer in all situations, but if you hate thinking about closers, it's the best generic choice.…
"Best" what? These things may be somewhat culturally determined (including office/corporate culture). To me, "best" reads as mindless as any other. In fact, they all read as mindless to me, probably because in most cases they literally are mindless. You choose one and write it automatically in nearly every message. That's not to say they're useless . Politeness in social interactions is filled with formulaic, almost…
My father agrees, and for a time his standard greeting to colleagues were these words:
"Friendly Noise"
I've tried it a few times. I get strange looks at first, but people adopt.
I hate it when people use thanks for everything . What, you're thanking me for reading the email announcing the re-org? It reads as mindless and weird. I'm a "best" guy. It's never inappropriate. Whether I'm promoting you, firing you, reporting up on progress or problems, "best" always works. (I'm not saying it's the best closer in all situations, but if you hate thinking about closers, it's the best generic choice.…
I can't stand "Best" as a closer. "Best wishes" is OK, as is "Best regards" but "Best" on its own is going to get your email into the "deal with it later" queue.
Given my interactions, I'd be cautious dead-queueing an email on this criteria.
This is an excellent example of why inferring causation from an observed correlation requires great care. Note that the study did not randomly assign valedictions to emails and observe the causal impact on response rate. Rather, they observed a correlation between the sign-off chosen and the response rate. "Thanks" garners many responses because people use it in emails that make reasonable requests with a good chance…
I hate it when people use thanks for everything . What, you're thanking me for reading the email announcing the re-org? It reads as mindless and weird. I'm a "best" guy. It's never inappropriate. Whether I'm promoting you, firing you, reporting up on progress or problems, "best" always works. (I'm not saying it's the best closer in all situations, but if you hate thinking about closers, it's the best generic choice.…
This is an excellent example of why inferring causation from an observed correlation requires great care. Note that the study did not randomly assign valedictions to emails and observe the causal impact on response rate. Rather, they observed a correlation between the sign-off chosen and the response rate. "Thanks" garners many responses because people use it in emails that make reasonable requests with a good chance…
As well as being what you might say when clinking glasses, in the UK "cheers" is a jovial way of saying "thanks" as well as something you might say for "goodbye" so works in all these contexts simultaneously.
Doesn't "thanks" imply a request was made, and "best" imply the end of a conversation? Did they just analyze a bunch of emails blind?
This is an excellent example of why inferring causation from an observed correlation requires great care. Note that the study did not randomly assign valedictions to emails and observe the causal impact on response rate. Rather, they observed a correlation between the sign-off chosen and the response rate. "Thanks" garners many responses because people use it in emails that make reasonable requests with a good chance…
I am from the UK and work with a lot of Americans. I often sign off emails with "Cheers," which gets a lot of positive comment. As well as being what you might say when clinking glasses, in the UK "cheers" is a jovial way of saying "thanks" as well as something you might say for "goodbye" so works in all these contexts simultaneously.
So cheers!
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I always laugh a little when I get emails from someone still in college. They are so formal, even after I reply in a less formal manner. I don’t blame them as I did the same thing.
I'm still pretty formal with new clients. It takes me years to leave out a valediction with some. But on the other hand, my favorite valediction is usually "Cheers," since it seems the most casual and least demanding. Still, I always worry this gives away the fact that I'm an alcoholic. My runner up is "Yours," which I see didn't make the list.
Candidly, I think "Yours" is just weird. Maybe even kind of creepy? Just roll with cheers and forget about it!