Greetings!

Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians

When writing, Paul used elaborate greetings.  Paragraphs, actually!

Today, there are rules, suggestions and matters of etiquette when writing letters of any sort.  There are rules, suggestions and matters of etiquette when meeting others in person.

However, it seems there are no rules, suggestions or matters of etiquette when sending email.  And, if you haven't noticed, email seems to be our primary method of correspondence in our technology-driven society.



These are examples of recent email correspondence received:

• "find out too how we get the money? Do they refund a credit card, send a check?  Or credit our terms account?"
• "Are survey's done and is out score high enough?"
• "when can this be reinstated?"

The chain of correspondence in each case was nearly 30 days old.  Suddenly, first thing in the morning, they hit my inbox, spelling errors included.

Sure, it's just work email and brevity could and maybe should be anticipated.  But, in the middle of this, I see no personality, respect, consideration or even a willingness to "talk" as colleagues.

Is it just me or should there be rules, suggestions and matters of etiquette when addressing colleagues?  Should we not at least have the courtesy to properly greet our partners and friends?

I wonder if maybe, just maybe, the workplace might be happier (at least more pleasant) if we treated each other as we wish to be treated.  (familiar theme?).

It doesn't take much.  Full paragraph greetings are not required.  But, there are simple ways to greet one another in a way that smooths the flow of dialogue while resulting in at least minimal respect and courtesy.  Whether formal or informal, we should at least begin the day by saying hello.

Heya!
Hola!
Hey!
Good morning!
Good to hear from you!
Dear...

I wonder if I would have been more responsive should one of the above emails been written something like this:



"Hey Mike!  How are you today?.  I'm just wondering if you could tell me if our surveys have been completed with acceptable scores?"