The go-to email greetings such as “I hope this email finds you well” have always been a little stiff and disingenuous, but are even more so during these times of COVID-19. I recently shared my thoughts and etiquette advice on these sorts of email greetings with The New York Times. That basic electronic salutation seems pretty ironic at this point because most people are not doing so well, rather, they’re all just trying to get through this as best they can.
What this experience has shown me is that we have leaned on the generic, surface-level greetings for too long. That has probably, in some instances, harmed our relationships and our dealings with people. So I think one of the things we can learn from this moment is to have transparency and to share your personal truth, or to dig a little deeper and acknowledge that things are not going well.
Simply call it exactly what it is. I start my emails saying, ‘I hope you and your family are safe and well. We cannot be so stoic and corporate-like, to where we forget to be humans… Continue Reading