Email Etiquette and 'Out of Offices'
So long, farewell, Auf wiedersehen and goodbyes... email etiquette.
Email etiquette can be a tricky and daunting thing to master. With so many options for greetings, sign offs, signatures and out of office replies, it can be hard to know which to use.
So, we have come up with a helpful guide, with some top tips, to help you choose your email greetings according to their purpose.
Style
The style of your email is the most important factor when deciding how to begin and end your email. It may be referred to as the narrative voice, or stage of professionalism, but it all comes down to the same question: How well do you know the recipient?
If you are using an formal voice (do you mean formal) (alluding that you do not know the recipient closely or that this is a professional purpose) then you may want to stick to the following:
- ‘Good morning,’
- ‘Good evening,’
- ‘Dear _______,’
- Salutations
That last one has a certain amount of flare, but is perfect if you are not sure of the recipient’s name, or what time of day they may read your email. It’s unique and memorable, but still professional.
Whereas you could use ‘Hello’, ‘Hi’, or ‘Hey’ for someone less formal, like a work colleague. Additionally, you may use emojis when contacting a friend, and your sign off will most likely be more personal:
- ‘Thanks,’
- ‘Best Wishes,’
- ‘See you soon,’
Purpose
The purpose of your email obviously effects the way in which it is written, as it implies a certain level of professionalism. The purpose of the email, whether it’s a firm reply about a problem, or a friendly check in with a client, effects the style of the email. And the above openers can be used accordingly. However, the closing of your email is largely affected by the purpose.
Our favourite is ‘Kind regards,’ as this is both professional and warm. However, the reason we like it so much, is that we can change the tone of the email drastically by removing the first word. So, if you are in an email battle with your electricity company, a rude customer or someone in the office that really ticked you off last week, you can ed the email with ‘regards.’
We just experienced a chill, did you?
It’s still professional, but implies that you indeed are at the end of your tether.
Additionally, if you are secretly in love with your recipient, or just very thankful for their help, you can exchange the word ‘kind’ for ‘warmest regards,’ which just gives us the warm and fuzzies!
You could go old school and use ‘yours sincerely’ (for those you know or have interacted with before) or ‘yours faithfully’ for those that you don’t know.
Out of Office Emails
Finally, your out of office email is important – because communication is everything. You want to convey how long you will be off, and if possible, an alternative point of contact for emergencies – to a colleague or main office number.
The standard response:
“Salutations,
I am away on annual leave at the moment, and will be back in the office Day __th Month 2023. If urgent, please contact the office at 01234567890 or email@business.com.
Kind regards,”
However, there are some that like to add a little bit of spice when writing their OOOs. So here are some of our favourite ‘out of office’ emails:
“On my return I’ll delete everything in my inbox – if your email is important then send again.”
“Error 404: Employee not found”
“I am on maternity leave with limited access to emails, sleep & social life.”
We don’t necessarily recommend these replies, but at least it’s not boring!
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