Never Say Thank You

Posted on June 13, 2012 by Michael Schechter • 10 Comments

And while you’re at it, stop saying:

  • Got it.
  • Sure.
  • OK.
  • Thanks.
  • Uh huh.
  • Yep.

Not in general, just to emails. If you have nothing to add to an email other than a brief confirmation of its very existence, stop it. You’re not making the other person feel better. You’re not offering up the confidence that you will handle anything. We’re feeling pretty darn good that you got our email and the few times you tell us that you didn’t, we just assume it is an excuse. You think you’re being nice and/or responsible, but all you’re doing is giving a person with a likely overloaded inbox one more irrelevant message to deal with. If you have something to say, say it. If not, file the message away and move on.

Feel free to forward this message to anyone who continues to plague your inbox with kindly worded unnecessary excess. And the next time you’re tempted to send one of these messages yourself (I know I am often guilty of this), just think about how much you hate them when you’re on the receiving end and never do it again.

This has been a public service announcement.

Filed Under: Productivity
  • http://dannybrown.me/ Danny Brown

    Go shit a porcupine.

    • http://michaelschechter.me/ MSchechter

      Thank you.

      • http://dannybrown.me/ Danny Brown

         Don’t say that. Never say that. Else the porcupine is escalated into a narwhal.

        • http://michaelschechter.me/ MSchechter

          Gotcha

          • http://dannybrown.me/ Danny Brown

             That’s it!

          • http://michaelschechter.me/ MSchechter

            yep!

  • Guest

    Uhm, saying thank you to emails from our administrative staff gets me all sorts of bonuses. In general though, I agree.

    • http://michaelschechter.me/ MSchechter

      There’s no doubt you have to play along if that’s the corporate culture, but if you have a hand in creating it, there are better ways to go.

  • http://twitter.com/hdbbstephen Stephen Smith

    I like to get a reply with an update, and I believe that it it a good practice to acknowledge receipt of communications, because more often than not it is not an excuse. They really didn’t see it. Because most people can’t manage their email properly.

    • http://michaelschechter.me/ MSchechter

      I see an update as something very different from a confirmation. I also think if you want an update, you should request it. And trust me, they saw it. They may have just misplaced it, but the saw it alright :)