These are all great tips for less-impersonal emails

I think that adding a personal touch while customizing your messages by using a personal style in every email(a custom combination for fonts, colors and so on) may help too.

Nice post, it is always a good idea to be reminded that we are human (even though we are hiding behind computers with internet connections)… fortunately for some, and unfortunately for others, it becomes easy to act differently while ‘cybering’ as opposed to real life.

++recommend

IDK = I don’t know, BFF… I wouldn’t have a clue!

I’m confused and troubled. Confused by the word “boss” when I think you mean “client.” If you DO mean client, then I’m troubled that you would use “boss.” That word implies a hierarchy where you’re at the bottom, while a client is in a consulting relationship with you. If you’re in a consulting relationship, presumably you have specialized skills or ideas to offer. The comment “Come on!” suggests the error in the title was really basic and should have been caught by you. I can see that this felt belittling to you, but when someone who’s your equal (a friend, co-worker, partner) says this, s/he is saying “This isn’t like you, you should know better.” Usually, we reply with “You’re right, sorry, my mistake, I was daydreaming, you now have proof that I’m human!” I guess what I’m saying is that it seems as if you took this comment as very hard criticism from your superior, instead of from an equal who might have been chiding you for making a basic error. Like people who are bad at arithmetic delighting in catching an error in addition by someone great in math. We mustn’t regard our clients or editors with awe. We are doing them a service by providing great work. Sometimes we’ll make mistakes.

BFF = Best Friends Forever, kwim.

@Gloria: the problem, as the article, so eloquently put it, is that without social cues, we tend to take even the smallest quip in the most negative sense. I’ve fallen victim to missing sarcasm and what not. Basically, whether from a boss, a client, or a co-worker, when using email, one has to be careful with how they word things. And maybe adding on an emoticon at the end would help (although, I tend to only do this with friends and try not to use this with clients).

hey nice article there:)

yep, over the course of my work i realized keeping a friendly but polite tone in my emails help a lot in creating a great envrionment to work in. not only that you might end up making a friend out of the person on the other side too.

My wife refers to these messages as “Nastygrams”. I love that. It’s the perfect description.

I’ve had to deal with a similar response from a client. It’s bad enough that they weren’t happy with something, but the fact that they said it the way they did, was just plain rude.

I decided to not write back, and simply cut my losses. I’d rather do work for people that will respect me, then bust my butt for unappreciative bosos.

The funniest thing about it, is that I received an email a month later requesting the very work I was previously criticized for as well as payment.

This issue is coming up a lot, and I think it’s very important (here and on the Rookie Designer podcast, among other places).

My two cents are that, as silly as they come across as, exclamation points and emoticons can be very powerful when used responsibly. Even inspirational or otherwise praising messages (”Good job.”) can seem cold or even demeaning when using only periods. Similarly, emoticons can help convey a happy emotion when the words you’re using might indicate a more combative response than you intend (”Guess I’ll just have to stay late. ).

John, I totally agree with you. Indeed, a plain “good job.” does come across as very cold. When you mention something like “Guess I’ll have to stay up late finishing the job” without an emoticon, what might seem like a casual remark in actual conversation carries a somewhat, in this context, dissatisfied tone.

I’m an English student and one rule of thumb (at least, in high school) is that for every page of writing you have, you shouldn’t have more than 3 exclamation points–that is, one exclamation point for each of three separate instances and a single !!! or !! is totally unacceptable. But, when writing online or in e-mails, that rule is I virtually throw out the window; of course, I try not to use it to excess so that everything becomes hard! to! read! Certainly, exclamation points do serve a valuable purpose. When I e-mail to friends, especially, I like to start off with Hi! or Hey! occasionally rather than Hi, or Hey,.

Couple things…:
It appears your “boss” [or more appropriately “client”] has learned that you deliver good stuff. That creates expectations for everything going forward. Appears you let him down, in his expectation.
Second, you don’t know what’s going on at his end… mebbe he forwarded it to his “boss” without looking, assuming your good stuff was in there, and got his wrist slapped.
Or he’s under other pressures.
Sure, we should all count to ten before replying, but that’s not the real world… not your, his.
First thing I woulda done was picked up the phone and restored the human interaction, and fired the corrected document back without hesitation.
The dizzying speed in which computers/email let us exchange our words and work often leads to “miscommunication”… stuff we wish we could take back five, ten seconds later.
Get up off the floor.
Dust yourself off and get on with it.
You’re only as good as your last delivery in this biz. If it’s too hot, get out now.

Oh, and keep the emoticons [ewwwwwww!] for family and close friends.

totally agree, especially when your mode of contact/review is over email, an irritated tone in an email can sour a project very quickly! great post!