Avoid sending \u2018just looping in\u2026\u2019 or \u2018as per my last email\u2019 if you don\u2019t want to get on the wrong side of your recipient.<\/p>\n
New research commissioned by employee experience platform Perkbox Insights has revealed the things that the public finds most annoying to receive in an email at work, as well as the cliches that fill us with rage.<\/p>\n
The study of 1,928 employed adults revealed that although we might be in 2020, email isn\u2019t dead. 73% state that email is their preferred method of communication for work, with \u2018face-to-face\u2019 communication coming in second place (50%).<\/p>\n
What\u2019s more, most adults state that they spend between 1 and 2 hours of their workday checking and sending emails, 16% spend between 2 and 3 hours, while a shocking 15% spend 5+ hours.<\/p>\n
Not only do respondents check their inboxes frequently in work, but almost a third check their emails outside of work \u2018every few hours\u2019 while 1 in 10 also check their emails every hour, with the same amount checking \u2018constantly\u2019.<\/p>\n
All this time spent emailing means that many of us have clear ideas on how it should be done. Most respondents think that the perfect greeting for a work email is \u2018Hi\u2019 (49%) and the best way to sign-off is to use \u2018Kind Regards\u2019 (69%).<\/p>\n
Yet, there are many inbox greetings that don\u2019t get such a warm welcome. The most disliked ways to start an email include \u2018To whom it may concern\u2019 with 37% stating that this the worst greeting, followed by 28% who think \u2018Hey\u2019 is unacceptable.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, it\u2019s important to start your email in some way, as \u2018no greeting\u2019 came out on top as the worst way to begin your message (53%).<\/p>\n
But once you\u2019ve started an email, how should you end it? After \u2018Kind Regards\u2019, \u2018Thanks\u2019\/ \u2018Thanks again\u2019 is ranked in second place as the best way to end an email, with 46% voting for this sign-off. On the other hand, perhaps unsurprisingly, ending an email with \u2018Love\u2019 is the worst way to end an email, with 57% stating that this is a workplace no-no.<\/p>\n
The worst email sign-offs are followed by \u2018Warmly\u2019 (31%), \u2018Cheers\u2019 (26%), with \u2018Yours Truly\u2019 (24%) and \u2018Best\u2019 (12%) all making the list.<\/p>\n
Getting to the content of the email – the cliche taking first place as most annoying is \u2018just looping in\u2026\u2019, with a huge 37% stating that they dislike this statement. This is followed by 3 phrases relating to being followed up to do something that was mentioned in a previous email. A third of people hate the phrase \u2018as per my last email\u2019, followed by \u2018any updates on this\u2019 (24%) and \u2018just checking in\u2019 (19%).<\/p>\n
Finally, looking at general email etiquette, many \u2018DON\u2019Ts\u2019 become apparent. In first place of things to avoid doing within a work email is \u2018using capital letters for words or whole sentences\u2019 with 67% stating that this is something to avoid.<\/p>\n
This is followed by \u2018using kisses, or \u2018x\u2019s\u2019 (65%), \u2018CC\u2019ing people who don\u2019t need to be involved\u2019 (63%), \u2018using slang, such as OMG\u2019 (53%) and \u2018using too many exclamation marks\u2019 (52%).<\/p>\n
Delving deeper into the thoughts around exclamation marks, it turns out less is more in this regard. A huge 16% think that it\u2019s never acceptable to use an exclamation point in a work email, whilst 48% think that just 1 is acceptable, just 24% would stretch to 2.<\/p>\n
The Top 5 best greetings for work emails ranked:<\/strong><\/p>\n Top 5 worst greetings for work emails ranked:<\/strong><\/p>\n Top 5 best email sign-offs ranked:<\/strong><\/p>\n Top 10 worst email sign offs ranked:<\/strong><\/p>\n The most annoying email cliches:<\/strong><\/p>\n The biggest email DON\u2019Ts:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n
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