Why do people send thank you e-mails?

[JulesMaximus]

I know, it is polite, but honestly it just strikes me as a big waste of time and bandwidth to thank me for responding to something I am being paid to do anyway. Here's an example, every day I get e-mails from one of the Planners with a small list of products shipping that don't have product type codes (these are used for running sales reports, figuring commissions, etc. so it is pretty important that all products have not only a code but that they have the correct code). Anyway, it is usually a handful of parts that just were made active so I figure out what the product type is, input in the system, and then send her back the same e-mail with the product types of each part listed on it.

It is a fairly minor responsibility and a tiny portion of my day and one I'm not really searching for recognition or thanks for yet she ALWAYS sends me back a message saying TY...then, of course, I have to delete this message so it doesn't clog up my in box (I probably get at least 50 e-mails a day). And it's not just her, other people do this too.

I sometimes send these out myself but reserve them for relatively important tasks or if someone has gone out of their way to do something for me quickly.

Of course, I just wasted 5 minutes typing out this relatively minor rant...

I now return you to your regularly scheduled Trident bashing/religion/pointy elbows/Top Gear/Football players groping each other threads.

\flame suit on

 

[moshquerade]

Thank you for making this thread Jules

 

[highland145]

O.K. How about a F*ck You email? Same level of offensiveness?

 

[Alone]

I know, it is polite

Answered your own question in the very first sentence.

 

[zinfamous]

these are the same people that print out their emails and file them away in a cabinet.

 

[Nintendesert]

Damn, 50 emails a day! That's so many!

 

[JulesMaximus]

Thank you for making this thread Jules

No, thank YOU for responding!

 

[RPD]

these are the same people that print out their emails and file them away in a cabinet.

I get yelled at when I DON'T print out emails and file them.

 

[Snapster]

Replying also serves as a record of them having received your email as you cannot always assume they got it due to spam or unforeseen email issues, thanks is just an easy way to qualify a reply.

You'd also probably start getting a complex if no-one replied back with thanks!

 

[JulesMaximus]

Replying also serves as a record of them having received your email as you cannot always assume they got it due to spam or unforeseen email issues, thanks is just an easy way to qualify a reply.

You'd also probably start getting a complex if no-one replied back with thanks!

Man, that would be messed up if our spam filter filtered out internal e-mail from co-workers...I think IT would hear about that.

 

[Snapster]

Man, that would be messed up if our spam filter filtered out internal e-mail from co-workers...I think IT would hear about that.

True but I've seen it happen once... a network admin who thought it was a good idea to use an overly aggressive content filter which would even block internal emails that contained even the mere sniff of a swearword!

My sentiment was mainly regarding receiving thanks for both internal and external sources as that is what I'm most familiar with. ;o)

 

[zinfamous]

I get yelled at when I DON'T print out emails and file them.

Are you the email filer in your office?

 

[AreaCode707]

Acknowledgement of receipt, and confirmation that I do not need anything more, allowing the sender to close out the issue.

 

[Farang]

Send them a thank you note for acknowledging the receipt of your email. You appreciated the confirmation.

 

[rudeguy]

I get yelled at when I DON'T print out emails and file them.

Tell whoever is in charge of compliance about that.

I thought SOX forbid that kind of record keeping.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Acknowledgement of receipt, and confirmation that I do not need anything more, allowing the sender to close out the issue.

My response was the close out of the issue though. Nothing more needs to be said after I respond. I KNOW I responded...if they don't get the response worst case scenario is they'll just follow up with me on it again later. I just don't see the need to send an email saying nothing more than TY.

 

[Paladin3]

The key is to know when it's warranted. Some folks just love sending out thank you replies, mass emails and notifications keeping everyone updated on every move they make because they think it makes them look good, when it's actually the exact opposite.

 

[arcenite]

Tell whoever is in charge of compliance about that.

I thought SOX forbid that kind of record keeping.

Forbid? You must be dug so deep in a black hole somewhere that you forget not all companies give two blinks about SOX.

My response was the close out of the issue though. Nothing more needs to be said after I respond. I KNOW I responded...if they don't get the response worst case scenario is they'll just follow up with me on it again later. I just don't see the need to send an email saying nothing more than TY.

Yeah, a coworker appreciating what you do, no matter how admittedly small it is, is such a waste of time. What generation are you from, Jules? Folks like myself, who have grown up in the electronic age, see e-mail as a real-time form of communication, similar to fogies with their telephones. Hello, xyzpdq, good bye. The Thank Yous that you receive via e-mail is just another way of saying "good bye".

 

[OCGuy]

Thank you

 

[Drako]

LOL at people complaining about thank you emails.

 

[OCGuy]

I would only be mad if the sent them while I was eating lunch.

 

[Blackjack200]

Man, that would be messed up if our spam filter filtered out internal e-mail from co-workers...I think IT would hear about that.

True but I've seen it happen once... a network admin who thought it was a good idea to use an overly aggressive content filter which would even block internal emails that contained even the mere sniff of a swearword!

My sentiment was mainly regarding receiving thanks for both internal and external sources as that is what I'm most familiar with. ;o)

Don't laugh, I'm going through this hell right now. Spam server is stripping out excel files even when I send them internally. IT has done virus scans and even rebuilt my system. I've opened more than a dozen tickets. Ugh.

My response was the close out of the issue though. Nothing more needs to be said after I respond. I KNOW I responded...if they don't get the response worst case scenario is they'll just follow up with me on it again later. I just don't see the need to send an email saying nothing more than TY.

I get a lot more than 50 emails a day, and I still like getting thank you emails. I know that the other person is all set and it's nice that they appreciate my help. I work with people that are incredibly friendly and nice all the time and I work with people who think the way to be effective is to be nasty and confrontational. You wouldn't believe how much further I go for the nice people.

That being said, there are times when I won't send a thank you email because the issue was just too small or I just talked to them on the phone or something. When I do send thank you emails, I generally strip off all the CCs and other people in the to field, unless there is a specific reason to include them.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Don't laugh, I'm going through this hell right now. Spam server is stripping out excel files even when I send them internally. IT has done virus scans and even rebuilt my system. I've opened more than a dozen tickets. Ugh.



I get a lot more than 50 emails a day, and I still like getting thank you emails. I know that the other person is all set and it's nice that they appreciate my help. I work with people that are incredibly friendly and nice all the time and I work with people who think the way to be effective is to be nasty and confrontational. You wouldn't believe how much further I go for the nice people.

Agreed and I am very nice with people I work with. I've never been nasty or confrontational with anyone I work with. BTW-E-mail is just one way I recieve tasks. We have a web based ticket generation system here and I probably get 10-20 of those for followup on a daily basis too and a lot of those require a lot more of my time than the e-mails.

That being said, there are times when I won't send a thank you email because the issue was just too small or I just talked to them on the phone or something. When I do send thank you emails, I generally strip off all the CCs and other people in the to field, unless there is a specific reason to include them.

And that's exactly what I'm talking about here.

Like I said, it's just a minor annoyance.

 

[zCypher]

I see your point, but it's honestly a really small thing. I'll send a thank you if someone went out of their way for me, but I often refrain from replying when I feel that it's pointless or would just get in their way. Sometimes people are just busy and don't need your constant thanking them. It is nice to be appreciated though.

On the other hand, when someone never thanks me for my help, that can be at least as annoying.

 

[ibex333]

I believe that any kind of Thank you letters is lame. There is just too many people that like to suck up. And this is exactly what it is: SUCKING UP. Some people will stop at nothing to get ahead at life. They are willing to let go of any dignity and self respect to get that job promotion or whatever else they are after. I despise that. I rather be a bum than to suck up to someone.

I understand that a thank you letter is a way of saying thank you, but come the fuck on! Both you and the person you are sending it to knows you dont really mean it. (most of the time) Seriously, are you really thankful to the person you are writing to? Just how thankful are ya? Ok, fine let's not go there. ; ) Yeah... You know what I mean.

It's nothing but pure flattery. When someone thanks me for something, and I can feel that they dont really mean it or have no reason to mean it I dont feel good about that "thank you". I rather this person not thank me at all. And if I am the boss, and I sure as hell will be someday, people writing me "thank you" letters will never get promoted for that. They will be promoted based on their performance and record at work, but sucking up to me will get them nowhere. In fact it will just anger me.

The problem is, that many people get brainwashed into thinking it's NOT lame to write thank you letters, and is in fact very nice and very acceptible, if not sometimes necessary. Wrong. Sorry. It's lame and unnecessary. When you are doing well at work, you will never have to write a thank you letter to your boss. He will be happy with your performance and you have nothing to worry about. When I started working I was a nobody. A runaround boy. There was many other guys like me in our office. I was the only one who got promoted. THE ONLY ONE. I was never late. I never took even a minute off that I wasnt entitled to. I was always perfect in every way I could be, and when I made mistakes I did my best to compensate for that, a hundredfold. My superiors were not blind. They may have let it slide when the other guys slacked off, and that infuriated me, but they sure as hell didnt lift a finger to promote them or help them in any way. Me, I got promoted, I got recommendations in college, many people at the workplace know and respect me. I never ever, sucked up to my superiors. Never ran into their office an extra time to make small talk, get aquainted better or anyhting like that. I came in when I was called, and I made small talk when I noticed it was appropriate and wanted. Otherwise, I was always stone cold quiet and I did my work to best of my ability. I am still a nobody, but at least I am now much further in life than when I started, and I am sure I will keep climbing up.