Poll of the Day > This guy working with me starts his emails with "Hey"

(+) Yeah! (+)

Hey John etc.

ok if its just between him and me but like if its the rest of the team and shit you cant be doing that lol.

Its a small thing but kind of unprofessional. Awkward to bring up tho

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Really

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Hi John,

Hello John,

Salutations John!

John,

Hey John,

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Hey Fatalaccident,

Listen!!!

Your dude is just like a total zelda friend you know?

Maybe he is LinkPizza even!!

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It actually could be me. If its just an email to certain people, I might also start the email with hey. Its it professional (or petty), Ill use ALCON/Sir/Maam depending on who its to...
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Dear John,

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LinkPizza posted...

ALCON

Wuts dat

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Hey Jude

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That's not that unreasonable if it's somebody you've got a more casual relationship with. I usually default to "Hello [name]" if it's somebody I've never interacted with before, "Hi [name]" if they're more familiar or have spoken less formally to me (especially if they respond to "Hello" with "Hi"), and "Hey [name]" for less formal communications for people with whom I'm quite familiar.

Starting every email that way is kind of weird, though. That said, so many standards for "professionalism" are basically just arbitrary rules with no practical merit that exist purely as an opportunity to judge those that don't follow them, which is really kind of silly.

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Everyone I work with is really casual so I always send unprofessional emails

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FatalAccident posted...

Wuts dat

All Concerned
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SunWuKung420 posted...

Dear John,

If somebody hit me with a "dear" during an email I would slap the shit out of them

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I find absolutely nothing wrong with using "Hey" and would regret working with someone who makes it out to be a big deal

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Clench281 posted...

I find absolutely nothing wrong with using "Hey" and would regret working with someone who makes it out to be a big deal

Yeah. I start my emails like that all the time. I don't find it unprofessional and no one has ever said it was to me.

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If that sticks out to you as unprofessional then I feel like you are a not so pleasant person to work with.

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Hey John,

You're a total stick in the mud

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Mead posted...

If that sticks out to you as unprofessional then I feel like you are a not so pleasant person to work with.

Way to jump to conclusions my guy but ok.

Sorry but its just an overly informal way to start an email to someone youve never met lol. And being overfamiliar can come across unprofessional.

Yep granted a lot of this changes depending on what industry youre in but in a lot of cases it doesnt come across well

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FatalAccident posted...

in a lot of cases it doesnt come across well

to you

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ah well, it's better than messages from my classmates that just start with

'help me'

lol

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Mead posted...

to you

you say this as if it makes it any less valid? I dont exist in a vacuum, it comes across as unprofessional to me because i understand that are established norms as to what is professional and what will be deemed as such to other people that we work with. All of which depend on a number of factors.

Between me and him, no problem. From him to a client hes never met and trying to get authorisation from, overfamiliar and unprofessional.

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I agree with TC but also have worked and dealt with people who will never adapt. Ever.

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FatalAccident posted...

you say this as if it makes it any less valid?

considering most people dont care, correct

people communicate differently. Everyone knows it and it is okay. Dont have a stick up your butt about it.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEpVt72oDmU

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Mead posted...

considering most people dont care, correct

people communicate differently. Everyone knows it and it is okay. Dont have a stick up your butt about it.

I hear you

but I disagree

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Clench281 posted...

I find absolutely nothing wrong with using "Hey" and would regret working with someone who makes it out to be a big deal

ReturnOfFa posted...

ah well, it's better than messages from my classmates that just start with

'help me'

lol

I mean like, sometimes, that is all a half fly, half man dude can say yaknown?

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I start emails with yo or hey. It's all about setting expectations that I'm here to get a job done and i'm not going to be involved in any superfluous office formalities that distract from that. also wear jeans and t-shirts to the office to cement this image.

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While it's ostentatiously less professional, it's like the smallest fucking deal ever. Nobody should be busting his balls over that. It's not like he's fucking typing in caps or something (and yeah, I've worked one of those fucking people before).

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The horror

It's fine.
You're overreacting.

EDIT:
And hunkering down to defend your position, it's ok, let people start emails how they want.

you should respond back with "Hey is for horses"

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Dmess85 posted...

you should respond back with "Hey is for horses"

topic over winning response regardless of opinion on the matter

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Dmess85 posted...

you should respond back with "Hey is for horses"

But I thought "Hay" was for horses... Horses always be like "Hay, Gurl!"
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Just email him back saying "hay"

HEY LISTEN JOHN

caps
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I use "Hey" too, but only because the other greeting variants were taken.

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I do that sometimes when I am slacking some colleagues of mine for something. I see it occasionally in emails too

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Clench281 posted...

I find absolutely nothing wrong with using "Hey" and would regret working with someone who makes it out to be a big deal

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My manager have kinda asked me to stop using "Good morning/afternoon" when addressing clients. He and most of our clients start their emails with just the name of the person they are addressing but there are some who still uses "Hello", "Hi", "Good morning/afternoon", etc.

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Hey you!
Yeah you!
Hey John!
John?
John...
Grab me a sandwich.

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Lol Jesus you guys are acting like I castrated the kid over it, I literally started the topic by saying its a small thing and not actually a big deal. Theres different levels of unprofessional, not like hes walking around the office waving his willy around but sorry its about as unprofessional wearing Jordans into the office when we have a dress code lol

There are people to whom email formalities matter and people to whom they dont, if hes emailing people who care then he should tailor his speech accordingly. It literally costs you nothing to observe formalities, no matter how arbitrary we think they are

sheesh

I explained it to him and he understood anyway and we both laughed it off. Wasnt as awkward as I thought tbh

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My favorite part of work emails is being professionally sassy. I got really good at it.

FatalAccident posted...

Lol Jesus you guys are acting like I castrated the kid over it, I literally started the topic by saying its a small thing and not actually a big deal. Theres different levels of unprofessional, not like hes walking around the office waving his willy around but sorry its about as unprofessional wearing Jordans into the office when we have a dress code lol

There are people to whom email formalities matter and people to whom they dont, if hes emailing people who care then he should tailor his speech accordingly. It literally costs you nothing to observe formalities, no matter how arbitrary we think they are

sheesh

I explained it to him and he understood anyway and we both laughed it off. Wasnt as awkward as I thought tbh

He should have ignored you.
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JigsawTDC posted...

My favorite part of work emails is being professionally sassy. I got really good at it.

I love me some of this shit. I learned from my old manager, and passed it down to my assistant too.

its an art

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FatalAccident posted...

walking around the office waving his willy around

I'd be fine with that, tbh... But that because I like to see those...

JigsawTDC posted...

My favorite part of work emails is being professionally sassy. I got really good at it.

A co-worker and I have been sending out this like petty/sassy emails lately to everyone in our shop. It's was mostly because of things they were doing that we wanted fixed. They seemed to have worked a little, though...
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Using typical 'unprofessional' lingo and mannerisms is a way to get someone to feel more comfortable around you. I use it when dealing with buyers so that they talk to me easier, rather than thinking of me as a robot, to the point of instantly escalating things. People feel more like they can get answers and results from humans, rather than something that sounds like an automated response because of how professionally it's typed.

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