I’m a very polite person. As a Brit in Canada, I frequently apologise to people who stand on my foot on the bus; it’s a habit I just can’t seem to break.<\/p>\n
As everyone knows though, email etiquette is a different, and very complicated, phenomenon.<\/p>\n
Each week I send many, many email requests for information and documents. I am always polite, respectful of peoples’ time (unless the deadline is approaching with frightening speed), and explain exactly what I’m looking for, why I need it, and when I need it by.<\/p>\n
I also receive many messages of this kind, from local and off-site collaborators and their assistants. Some are more polite, respectful and self-explanatory than others.<\/p>\n
There are two common sign-offs on this kind of message. Both mean the same thing – “I really need this so you’d better send it ASAP”. The one I use myself is different to the one that I most commonly receive.<\/p>\n
I’m not going to tell you which is which, but which of the following do you find the least annoying?<\/p>\n
1) “Please and thank you”<\/p>\n
2) “Thank you in advance”<\/p>\n
Are there any other variants out there?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I’m a very polite person. As a Brit in Canada, I frequently apologise to people who stand on my foot on the bus; it’s a habit I just can’t seem to break. As everyone knows though, email etiquette is a … Continue reading