To not like "I hope this email finds you well" (or similar) as a professional greeting?

I use the broader 'I hope all is well with you' as an opener.

That way, if they're currently dealing with the aftermath of some sort of disaster, it's a great soft opener for them to come back to me, and can't easily be confused with me asking them for a medical history.

Can't bloody stand 'Best' at the end of an email though. Best what??!! Just write the whole damn thing!!

@Hateam

hate 'boils my piss'

gets on my last nerve!

I use it (and mean it...mostly...). I have always I think kept my professional emails friendly (and professional) - ie hello, a brief nicety, content, many thanks.

As an aside (but related point). I work in a professional environment that is very male dominated (and feels like a boys club, which frankly now I'm in my 40s and it's still a bloody boys club is really starting to wear thin). I have been told a couple of times throughout my career (by men) that my tone can sometimes be a bit 'short' (when negotiating with the other side). I have given this a lot of reflection and genuinely (a) don't think it is (see above - I include the extra niceties etc above versus plenty of people who write "name, content....., their name" (ie no hello, no kind regards etc)), and (b) encounter many men whose tone is not just blunt or direct but actually downright rude on occasion, and yet don't imagine for a second they're ever pulled up on their tone.

Do other women on here feel they're often held to a different standard to male colleagues, particularly re tone / style of communication / style of management?

I honestly thought someone was going to say I hope this email finds you before I do 😁 - I can't remember where I saw that, but I did make me laugh.

@Pennyandolive

its not wishing you well though, it's 'hoping' you are well & when you're not you can't exactly say 'No, I have a health issue that makes me feel like absolute shit actually' & it's just another pretence you have to keep up.

i get people don't mean any harm by it and it's just a social 'nicety' but it can be jarring when you're not well. Especially with an
ongoing issue.

@WindsurfingDreams I think all you can do is keep rephrasing in your head as nothing more than a long way of saying 'hi' a 'social nicety' than means nothing.

i understand totally why it's jarring though.

I'm guilty of just going straight to the matter at hand. But it is a convention to offer a greeting, even though they know I couldn't care less how they are!
So I do start with a chatty 'hope you are enjoying the sun' sort of thing. I think they may be more likely to respond well if I greet them with a polite and personal comment.

I am not sure that 'I hope you are well' is automatically interpreted that way by everyone... underlining your comment that emails are easy to misinterpret.

A quick straw poll (global tech company) of a bunchof 20somethings to 50somethings (me!!) is that it means 'I am about to impose upon you to do something that's either not really your job or needed in an unreasonably short timeframe!! when used at work

So I suspect that its very company specific in its interpretation, and so shouldn't be used for any formal / external emails

^^this

@WindsurfingDreams I’m with you on this one. It is like you are not allowed to not be well. If I need a soft opener I would ask how someone is, not force wellness onto them.

What would you say if it was the first email you were sending? So not replying to a previous one or no previous email to mention. Genuinely interested. I am never sure whether to launch straight in, or if that sounds a bit abrupt.

I’m disabled and chronically ill, but I have good days and bad…. As do we all? Or (for me) bad days and better days, maybe? What I’m trying to say, OP, is that I get it, but… take it as ‘I hope this email finds you having a better (even if that’s not very good) day’. After all, I’m sure you don’t give each correspondent your medical history?

I’ve just sent an email to my boss starting with this, interested to see how quickly she replies with what I need 😁

It's overly formal in my opinion. Reminds me of my Auntie who writes 'many happy returns of the day' in birthday cards.

Even in a professional setting I don't see the need to be so stiff with your writing style as long as it's polite.

I work closely with a team in another country for three or four months of the year, but have very little contact with them outside that time of the year. I do use it when I get back in touch with them after a long period, as I feel like I wouldn't know if something particularly significant had happened for them in the meantime. So it would feel very weird to me to jump straight in. But I don't use it for any of the people I see or interact with very regularly.

As others have said, I don't mean well as in health, I mean essentially "I hope nothing bad is going on with you right now".

Haha I actually do a little lesson to my form group at the beginning of year 12 "how to write a polite email". I told them never put kind regards if you're asking for something, it's so cheeky. Always put Many Thanks instead. Also never ever start with "Hi", no addressee. I told them you can check the spelling of the teacher's name in the email address.

Hi,
I need my grade for the last Maths test.
Kind Regards,
A Cheeky Student.

Vs...

Dear Ms Longsuffering-Teacher,
Please can I have my grade from the last Maths test?
Many thanks
A Less-Cheeky Student

My students tell me they genuinely appreciate it, they never knew why they kept getting grumpy replies from teachers. How could they know if they aren't told!

But yeah I don't tell them to put meaningless filler like "I hope you're well". Just get to the point and then say thank you.

Agreed, I just start all emails with ‘ skibidy bruh, here’s what I need’

O love this. I so wish I worked in a place where we could do this! Unlike OP, I think the social niceties are important, as humans just work like that. They just do.

But I actually wish that in reality, we could just say what this dude above suggests. 😀

It bothers me when people just jump right in, where are the basic manners?! I actually find it rude (maybe I am also unreasonable)?!

My bug bear is emails addressed by name only without Dear or Hi, eg

"John

Where are the invoices?"

It just feels curt and rude to me.

But you can't thank them for their email if you are sending the opening email. I would not use ' I hope you are well' in a reply email.

And starting off ' further to my email off' just sounds like ' You ignored my last email you incompetent! Bloody get on with what I need now.' Its just a bit abrupt.

Saying, I hope you are well, is not really a statement of hope that the person is well. Its really signalling, ' All's good between us. I'm not pissed at you and this email is not an order to do something, as I think I am entitled to order you about, even if I am not your Senior.'

Email communications are so easy to misinterpret, so ' hope you are well', just says, ' all's good between us, I hope you feel so too'. That is what it communicates.

Or kind regards ,when you know they are being anything but kind.

Me too mostly, but I do notice and would rather just have 'Dear SeeSee' (in-organisation colleagues and regular outside contacts) or 'Dear Ms Rider' (everyone else).

I don't favour it either. Seems very twee and disingenuous.

I often have to work with people where contact is by phone/email/teams for several months before face to face. I will be chatty with them on phone rather than just straight “work talk” and carry this on into emails. These are people I need engagement and a certain amount of rapport with as we may be collaborating for several months. So, I treat it as I did pre-covid when more was face to face. I think it’s just part of the social niceties, and I actually am interested in their response! People do tell me things good and bad about themselves and their lives over time so I do feel I have a relationship with them prior to actually meeting. For instance, as often at opposite ends of the country there will be a what’s the weather where you are bit, maybe plans for some activity, two minutes then move into the nitty gritty of work. Lots of people WFH are very isolated and this is the replacement for actual collegial in-person communication.
I’m not suggesting you blurt out all your health woes - that’s not for everyone but perhaps see it as general small talk.

its just an opener as it sounds less like an order to ' do this that I am writing to you about NOW'

Send them this ☺️

www.instagram.com/reel/C94oJmwuaz6/?igsh=Z29ibTQ1YmFuYTJt