Business communication

[AlexAD]

Hello.

At the beginning I want to say that I am not a racist or a person who show lack of disrespect to a nation.

I am working with Irish guys so everything I am going to write down here may has something to do with their culture or the persons involved.

When I write in the letter 'Hello, <her name>. blah.. blah..' she may answer without greeting me, I mean not saying hello, etc. I understand it's all about crazy business schedule these days, but it's not that hard to say hi or hello even if you send not the first letter this day. What would you do if you were in my place? Would you point that out or just don't pay attention to it. I always try to avoid conflicts, saying people how to behave, etc. but I think there are situations when it is necessary to do so. What do you think?

The negative consequence for me may be that I will start feeling they this person show lack of disrespect to me or even to our team and that is not good for communication as we will soon became hostile.

Regards, Alex.

 

[SoothingDave]

I would relax if I were you. No disrespect is intended. Lots of people fire off emails, especially on their Blackberrys without "proper" salutations or greetings. I tend to only give a "hello" to someone if it's the first email I have ever sent them.

 

[AlexAD]

Do you think I need to change my style of writing for this particular case as well.
I mean, being simple, not ceremonial ?

 

[AlexAD]

I tend to only give a "hello" to someone if it's the first email I have ever sent them.

The first email being sent on some day or the first email at all :-D?

 

[SoothingDave]

You are free to write in whatever style you feel comfortable with. Certainly, if you match their style no one would accuse you of being disrespectful. On the other hand, if you feel better maintaining some formality, that's OK, too.

 

[SoothingDave]

The first email being sent on some day or the first email at all :-D?

At all. Unless it's been a long time since I have corresponded. I do tend to act a little more formal with foreigners.

 

[AlexAD]

By the way the other member writes 'Hi, Sir' that also sounds unusual to me as those are two different words in that the first is informal while the second isn't. It is the first time I have seen such a combination.

 

[Barb_D]

So many people are using their iPhone or other smart phones for e-mai these days that most salutations have disappeared. When I'm at my desk, using my computer, I usually do use salutations when I'm starting the e-mail, but I often omit them when responding. When I use my phone to create the e-mail, I may omit the salutation as well. Do not let this bother you.

 

[CarloSsS]

By the way the other member writes 'Hi, Sir' that also sounds unusual to me as those are two different words in that the first is informal while the second isn't. It is the first time I have seen such a combination.

"Hi, Sir" sounds weird and unusual to me too. It's almost as if the person using that were a kid.

 

[emsr2d2]

"Hi, Sir" sounds weird and unusual to me too. It's almost as if the person using that were a kid.

We see "Hi, Sir" and similar on this forum quite often. It's generally used by people who are from cultures where it is considered rude not to address someone as something if you don't know their name. In most English-speaking countries, there's no reason why you shouldn't simply address the people in a thread with "Hi", "Hi everyone", "Hello", "Good morning/afternoon/evening, my new friends" etc. In many cases "Sir" and "Madam" are far too formal.

As far as the original example is concerned, I agree with the others who said "Just don't worry about it". If you choose to address your messages and emails to your colleague using her name that is entirely up to you. Equally, if she chooses to simply reply by going straight in to the main body of the email, then that is totally her choice. It's clear that the message is to you as she's sending it your email address. It's also clear it's from her as it's from her email address. I would be more surprised if a colleague didn't put their own name at the end of a message, but I wouldn't necessarily expect them to put a salutation and a name at the beginning of a message.

 

[CarloSsS]

We see "Hi, Sir" and similar on this forum quite often. It's generally used by people who are from cultures where it is considered rude not to address someone as something if you don't know their name. In most English-speaking countries, there's no reason why you shouldn't simply address the people in a thread with "Hi", "Hi everyone", "Hello", "Good morning/afternoon/evening, my new friends" etc. In many cases "Sir" and "Madam" are far too formal.

Thanks for clearing that up. Still, I think it is a weird combination. English-speaking people don't say e.g. "Good morning/afternoon/evening dude" a to buddy of theirs either, and yet they easily use "Hi, sir"? That's puzzling.

 

[5jj]

English-speaking people don't say e.g. "Good morning/afternoon/evening dude" a to buddy of theirs either, and yet they easily use "Hi, sir"? That's puzzling.

No they don't. Read emsr2d2's post again.

 

[CarloSsS]

No they don't. Read emsr2d2's post again.

Thank you. I don't know why, but instead of the word "see" in emsr2d2's post I read "say". Now it's clear to me.

 

[AlexAD]

Thanks, friends, you posts helped me a lot.

Yes, I think I will change my communication style with those particular guys (why give people more than they want) but I won't change my communication style when writing to someone at the first time and then depending on the answer I may choose the most applicable way of communication.

Regards, Alex.

 

[shannico]

Hi Alex :-D,
it looks like I've missed out on a very interesting thread. I totally agree with the others when they say not to pay too much attention to your Irish colleagues' writing style. Plus, it's so true that with emails being sent to and from mobile phones now, email communication tends to be even more concise. I don't think, however, that your Irish colleagues' writing style may be put down to a cultural issue. Before getting into teaching, I worked with lots of Irish people in the I.T. and financial sectors and I remember their emails being pleasantly informal, yet never blunt. Then again that was nearly ten years ago and things have changed a lot in the Irish economy since then. Just to let you know, though, one cultural trait Irish people are known for and also made fun of is their incapability of being too direct. There's this joke about asking an Irish person whether they would like a cup of tea, where for them to say yes you'd have to ask them three or four times at least! Apparently the joke is meant to ridicule the Irish false belief that it's impolite to accept an offer straight away as much as it's impolite not to insist on offering. And I might safely say that there's an element of truth to that - if an Irish person doesn't really want tea they'll say "positive" after the third time you've asked "Sure, you won't have tea?".
All jokes aside, here's some snippets off Father Ted, a famous Irish sit-com, which take on the Irish and their mannerisms. The second one is my favourite and the third one is priceless!
Hope you'll have a laugh.

Father Ted - A Nice Cup Of Tea - YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOLYYYsFqcI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=571YIyOkAEM

Hello.

At the beginning I want to say that I am not a racist or a person who show lack of disrespect to a nation.

I am working with Irish guys so everything I am going to write down here may has something to do with their culture or the persons involved.

When I write in the letter 'Hello, <her name>. blah.. blah..' she may answer without greeting me, I mean not saying hello, etc. I understand it's all about crazy business schedule these days, but it's not that hard to say hi or hello even if you send not the first letter this day. What would you do if you were in my place? Would you point that out or just don't pay attention to it. I always try to avoid conflicts, saying people how to behave, etc. but I think there are situations when it is necessary to do so. What do you think?

The negative consequence for me may be that I will start feeling they this person show lack of disrespect to me or even to our team and that is not good for communication as we will soon became hostile.

Regards, Alex.