Stop Offending People with Your E-mail Signoffs

Sending effective e-mail is hard. Even harder, apparently, than I had suspected. Did you ever think about your signoff, for example? Ending an e-mail with "Best" or "Sincerely" could be causing unintended damage.

At least, The Washington Post contends your e-mail signoff can hurt yor business relationships. If you weren't worried about subtle use of language in e-mail before reading this article, you will be now. Take, for example, some common closers:

• "Sincerely" is cold and suggests there's a problem hidden in the e-mail or in your relationship with the recipient
• "Cordially" means "my hostility is only thinly veiled."
• "Cheers" is too mock-British. Which, I suppose, means it's fine to use if you really are British.
• "Best" can be seen as a careless brush-off.

Don't forget that we've written a lot of e-mail etiquette recently. Here are some places to start:

• Don't Annoy Your Boss and Co-Workers with E-mail Gaffes
• Don't Bring Down Your Mail Server with Reply All

Photo by Umair Mohsin