To Thank Or Not To Thank?
I received this feedback from a recent Email Essentials course. I wanted to share it because it raises an interesting question:
Hi Jody
I really liked your email training course that you put on for the HR & IT division.
There was just one thing that you mentioned during the training that concerned me.
You mentioned to cut back on sending “thank you” emails to people who are constantly working with user requests. I support users all day long and the thank you I get is the best part of my day. Also when I get a “thank you” it validates that they have read my email and they are satisfied with the results. If they don’t say thank you, I don’t know if they have even received my email and it is also quite ungrateful.
Cheers,
Silvia Giles
IT Business Analyst
I find people are quite divided on this issue. Personally, I like being thanked and I also like giving thanks. At the same time, I hear lots of people complain about the very same thing!
It’s often people providing service by email all day who resent having to open an email that just says thanks. For them, these messages are time wasters. I’ve heard a lot of venting on this subject—enough that I need to raise the issue in courses.
My suggestion is to know your reader—do they want to be thanked or not? Maybe the best advice is assume you’ll be thanked or acknowledged UNLESS you add NRN (No Response Necessary) to your subject line. This means you need to explain—nicely—what NRN stands for.
What do you think? Does being thanked make you feel appreciated or annoyed? Do you think we are becoming less polite in general?
Personally I like to be thanked for the reasons stated by Silvia. I also think it is only polite to thank others as well. I find common courtesy is going the way of the dinosaur so I like to do what I can to keep it alive!
I agree with Michele Cherry. Thank you’s are becoming extinct and it’s not a good thing. Our manners have become like twitter and facebook – fast, not personal and a good excuse to avoid one-on-one connections.
I also like to get ‘thank you’ emails as a confirmation that they are fine with what I sent them but I also get annoyed when I receive them in return for routine emails like bi-weekly status reports. As well, if I am asking someone questions all day long and getting responses, I don’t thank that person for every email answered. After a few emails I will say something like ‘thanks for all the responses you sent today’. I think it is a judgement call.
Hi:
I prefer to receive a “thank you” from the person to whom I sent an e-mail or picture or joke etc. After a while, if nothing is ever received from that person, I don’t send any more e-mail.
I agree with the reasons previously stated and make sure I always give a reply, or comment, or thanks for the e-mail received. I think it important. That way I know the person, at least, got the e-mail.
Cheers.
Robert Strang