That sentence at the start of an email!

[Notradespeopleareavailable]

Whenever I receive an email in work or professional capacity, I always know from the first sentence that something is expected of me (eg either to do an unscheduled piece of work, or something has happened that is going to result in a bill / or friend wants a favour doing). The sentence is -

Hi Notrades, I hope you're well?

Personally I wish everyone would ditch this faux concern opener and just get straight to the point in their emails / texts. I avoid the 'are you well' question and maybe some people think I'm quite rude (or abrupt).

Which approach would you prefer?

Can anyone tell me where “Best” came from and when and why it caught on. I encountered it overnight in 2005 when I moved to a new job. It strikes me as really bizarre to use the adjective alone and discard the noun. I can’t think of any other instance where a lone adjective has become a short form for a phrase.

I can’t really comprehend “Best”. It just says “Best”. I don’t get how that can have become a parting salutation that is happily used by people, although it clearly has.

I tend to use it (or some variation / polite opener) with clients (lawyer) because they’re paying our bills and we want to retain clients so developing a good rapport and being polite is important. I don’t go overboard but I always ensure emails are friendly and warm whilst still being succinct.

For some reason it really irks me when people start an email with just your name, e.g

Bumblenbean

Can you send me those figures .. etc

I know it’s perfectly acceptable but to me it just seems lazy, like they can’t be arsed / don’t think you’re worth a ‘hi’ / ‘dear’. I was reminded of my dislike of abrupt emails when a new colleague joined last week. She’s slightly senior to me but not my superior or boss, as she’s in a different team / work stream. I had to email her something and began with Hi Jane, welcome to XXX, hope you’re settling in well. Please find attached ….. etc’ and her response was

Bumblenbean

Thanks, I’ll have a look and come back to you.

Jane

Just unnecessarily abrupt I felt when we’ve never met/ spoken before and someone’s tried to welcome you to the firm!

@WordOfTheDay

Can anyone tell me where “Best” came from and when and why it caught on. I encountered it overnight in 2005 when I moved to a new job. It strikes me as really bizarre to use the adjective alone and discard the noun. I can’t think of any other instance where a lone adjective has become a short form for a phrase.

I can’t really comprehend “Best”. It just says “Best”. I don’t get how that can have become a parting salutation that is happily used by people, although it clearly has.

I see that one from time to time and I think it's come from someone who made a mistake once and other people have unwittingly copied it ever since.

Best,

Myotherusernamewastakenagain

I think putting “I hope you’re well” at the start of an email is very odd. I’d never put that. I have received emails like that a few times and it makes me think the sender is unaware of social niceties. Putting “kind regards” or whatever at the end is fine.

Does anyone think that it's a woman thing? That we're more conditioned than men and feel we have to be 'nice' in our emails hence the prevalence of 'hoping you are well?' openers.

@Notradespeopleareavailable

Does anyone think that it's a woman thing? That we're more conditioned than men and feel we have to be 'nice' in our emails hence the prevalence of 'hoping you are well?' openers.

It’s a functional thing . I joined a team of client relations and the men use it as much/more than the women. It’s relationship building. Similarly if your team needs help from other departments it’s helpful to use internally

As for kind regards it’s expected in certain disciplines and industries. I’ve never seen it not used in law. Very common in financial services and HR. One HR director told me she found Regards passive aggressive. Since then I do the full works

@WordOfTheDay best is a contraction of best regards. BR is common in the NE and also I see it from US contacts a lot.

Hi Notradespeopleareavailable ,

I hope you are well. My attempt at nicety here is not necessarily an intro to something unwelcome. Nonetheless, coming from a more senior manager, it seems like quite a flimsy or weak message lacking confidence. From a peer though its just casual pleasantry. I would ignore superfluous language and just get on with the job.

My manager does this. Takes a whole paragraph on niceties at the start of every single email. I hate it. Mine are just straight to the point. Who’s got time for all that shit!