{"id":287,"date":"2022-04-26T16:30:51","date_gmt":"2022-04-26T20:30:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/businesswritingessentials2\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=287"},"modified":"2022-08-22T13:26:41","modified_gmt":"2022-08-22T17:26:41","slug":"7-7-goodwill-messages","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/businesswritingessentials2\/chapter\/7-7-goodwill-messages\/","title":{"raw":"7.7 Goodwill Messages","rendered":"7.7 Goodwill Messages"},"content":{"raw":"Goodwill messages are as essential to healthy professional relationships as they are in personal ones. Thank-you, congratulatory, and sympathy notes add an important, feel-good human touch in a world that continues to embrace technology that isolates people while being marketed as a means of connecting them. The goodwill that such messages promote makes both the sender and receiver feel better about each other and themselves compared with where they\u2019d be if the messages weren\u2019t sent at all. In putting smiles on faces, such notes are effective especially because many people don\u2019t send them\u2014either because they feel that they\u2019re too difficult to write or because it doesn\u2019t even occur to them to do so. Since praise for some can be harder to think of and write than criticism, a brief guide on how to do it right may be of help here.<b><\/b>\r\n<h3>The 5 S\u2019s of Goodwill Messages<\/h3>\r\nWhether you\u2019re writing thank-you notes, congratulatory messages, or expressions of sympathy, follow the \u201c5 S\u201d principles of effective goodwill messages:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><strong>Specific:<\/strong> Crafting the message around specific references to the situation that it addresses will steer such messages away from the impression that they were boilerplate template statements that you plagiarized.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Sincere:<\/strong> A goodwill message will come off as genuine if it\u2019s near to what you would say to the recipient in person. Avoid clich\u00e9 Hallmark-card expressions and excessive formality such as <em>It is with a heavy heart that I extend my heartfelt condolences to you in these sad times.<\/em><\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Selfless:<\/strong> Refer only to the person or people involved rather than yourself. The spotlight is on them, not you. Avoid telling stories about how you experienced something similar in an attempt to show how you relate.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Short:<\/strong> Full three-part messages and three-part paragraphs are unnecessary in thank-you notes, congratulatory messages, or expressions of sympathy. Don\u2019t make the short length of the message deter you from setting aside time to draft it.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Spontaneous:<\/strong> Move quickly to write your message so that it follows closely on the news that prompted it. A message that\u2019s passed its \u201cbest before\u201d date will appear stale to the recipient and make you look like you can\u2019t manage your time effectively (Guffey et al., 2016, p. 144).<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h3>Thank-you Notes<\/h3>\r\nIn the world of business, not all transactions involve money. People do favours for each other, and acknowledging those with thank-you notes is essential for keeping relations positive. Such messages can be short and simple, as well as quick and easy to write, which means not sending them when someone does something nice to you appears ungrateful, rude, and inconsiderate. Someone who did you a favour might not bother to do so again if it goes unthanked. Such notes are ideal for situations such as those listed in Activity 7.6 below.\r\n<h3>[h5p id=\"68\"]<\/h3>\r\n<sup>Activity 7.6 | Types of Thank-you Messages<\/sup>\r\n\r\nIn most situations, email or text is an appropriate channel for sending thank-you messages. Sending a thank-you note within 24 hours of interviewing for a job is not just extra-thoughtful but close to being an expected formality. To stand out from other candidates, hand-writing a thank-you card in such situations might even be a good idea.\r\n\r\nFollowing the 5 S\u2019s of goodwill messages given above, a typical thank-you email message for a favour might look like the example in Activity 7.7.\r\n<h3>[h5p id=\"10\"]<\/h3>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\"><sup>Activity 7.7 | Sample Thank-you Message<\/sup><\/p>\r\nNotice that this message is short, specific to the situation that prompted it, sincere, relatively selfless, and spontaneously sent the day of the incident that prompted it. It would certainly bring a smile both to the recipient and sender, strengthening their professional bond.\r\n<h3>Congratulatory Messages<\/h3>\r\nCelebrating the successes of your professional peers shows class and tact. It\u2019s good karma that will come back around as long as you keep putting out positive energy. Again, the 5 S\u2019s apply in congratulatory messages, especially selflessness. Such messages are all about the person you\u2019re congratulating. You could say, for instance, <em>I really admire how you handled yourself with such grace and poise under such trying circumstances in the field today.<\/em>\r\n<h3>Expressions of Sympathy<\/h3>\r\nFew situations require such sincerity and care with words as expressions of sympathy. Misfortune comes upon us all, and tough times are just a little more tolerable with the support of our friends, family, and community\u2014including those we work with. When the loved-one of a close associate dies, for instance, expressing sympathy for their loss is customary, often with a card signed by everyone in the workplace who knows the bereaved. You can\u2019t put an email on the mantle like you can a collection of cards from people showing they care.\r\n\r\nWhat do you say in such situations? A simple <em>I\u2019m so sorry for your loss<\/em>, despite being a stock expression, is better than letting the standard Hallmark card\u2019s words speak for you (Guffey et al., 2016, p. 147). In some situations, laughter\u2014or at least a chuckle\u2014may be the best medicine, in which case something along the lines of Emily McDowell\u2019s witty <a href=\"https:\/\/emilymcdowell.com\/collections\/empathy-cards\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Empathy Cards<\/a> would be more appropriate. McDowell\u2019s <em>There Is No Good Card for This: What to Say and Do When Life Is Scary, Awful, and Unfair to People You Love<\/em> (2016) collaboration with empathy expert Kelsey Crowe, PhD, provides excellent advice. Showing empathy by saying that you know how hard it can be is helpful as long as you don\u2019t go into any detail about their loss or yours. Remember, these messages should be selfless, and being too specific can be a little dangerous here if it produces traumatic imagery. Offering your condolences in the most respectful, sensitive manner possible is just the right thing to do.\r\n<h3>Replying to Goodwill Messages<\/h3>\r\nIt wouldn\u2019t go over well if someone thanked you for your help and you just stared at them silently. The normal reaction is to simply say <em>You\u2019re welcome!<\/em> Replying to goodwill messages is therefore as essential as writing them. Such replies must be even shorter than the messages that they respond to. If someone says a few nice things about you in an email about something else, always acknowledge the goodwill by saying briefly \u201cThank you very much for the kind words\u201d somewhere in your response.","rendered":"<p>Goodwill messages are as essential to healthy professional relationships as they are in personal ones. Thank-you, congratulatory, and sympathy notes add an important, feel-good human touch in a world that continues to embrace technology that isolates people while being marketed as a means of connecting them. The goodwill that such messages promote makes both the sender and receiver feel better about each other and themselves compared with where they\u2019d be if the messages weren\u2019t sent at all. In putting smiles on faces, such notes are effective especially because many people don\u2019t send them\u2014either because they feel that they\u2019re too difficult to write or because it doesn\u2019t even occur to them to do so. Since praise for some can be harder to think of and write than criticism, a brief guide on how to do it right may be of help here.<b><\/b><\/p>\n<h3>The 5 S\u2019s of Goodwill Messages<\/h3>\n<p>Whether you\u2019re writing thank-you notes, congratulatory messages, or expressions of sympathy, follow the \u201c5 S\u201d principles of effective goodwill messages:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Specific:<\/strong> Crafting the message around specific references to the situation that it addresses will steer such messages away from the impression that they were boilerplate template statements that you plagiarized.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Sincere:<\/strong> A goodwill message will come off as genuine if it\u2019s near to what you would say to the recipient in person. Avoid clich\u00e9 Hallmark-card expressions and excessive formality such as <em>It is with a heavy heart that I extend my heartfelt condolences to you in these sad times.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><strong>Selfless:<\/strong> Refer only to the person or people involved rather than yourself. The spotlight is on them, not you. Avoid telling stories about how you experienced something similar in an attempt to show how you relate.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Short:<\/strong> Full three-part messages and three-part paragraphs are unnecessary in thank-you notes, congratulatory messages, or expressions of sympathy. Don\u2019t make the short length of the message deter you from setting aside time to draft it.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Spontaneous:<\/strong> Move quickly to write your message so that it follows closely on the news that prompted it. A message that\u2019s passed its \u201cbest before\u201d date will appear stale to the recipient and make you look like you can\u2019t manage your time effectively (Guffey et al., 2016, p. 144).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Thank-you Notes<\/h3>\n<p>In the world of business, not all transactions involve money. People do favours for each other, and acknowledging those with thank-you notes is essential for keeping relations positive. Such messages can be short and simple, as well as quick and easy to write, which means not sending them when someone does something nice to you appears ungrateful, rude, and inconsiderate. Someone who did you a favour might not bother to do so again if it goes unthanked. Such notes are ideal for situations such as those listed in Activity 7.6 below.<\/p>\n<h3>\n<div id=\"h5p-68\">\n<div class=\"h5p-iframe-wrapper\"><iframe id=\"h5p-iframe-68\" class=\"h5p-iframe\" data-content-id=\"68\" style=\"height:1px\" src=\"about:blank\" frameBorder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" title=\"Thank-you Note Situations\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/h3>\n<p><sup>Activity 7.6 | Types of Thank-you Messages<\/sup><\/p>\n<p>In most situations, email or text is an appropriate channel for sending thank-you messages. Sending a thank-you note within 24 hours of interviewing for a job is not just extra-thoughtful but close to being an expected formality. To stand out from other candidates, hand-writing a thank-you card in such situations might even be a good idea.<\/p>\n<p>Following the 5 S\u2019s of goodwill messages given above, a typical thank-you email message for a favour might look like the example in Activity 7.7.<\/p>\n<h3>\n<div id=\"h5p-10\">\n<div class=\"h5p-iframe-wrapper\"><iframe id=\"h5p-iframe-10\" class=\"h5p-iframe\" data-content-id=\"10\" style=\"height:1px\" src=\"about:blank\" frameBorder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" title=\"Ch 7 Thank you\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\"><sup>Activity 7.7 | Sample Thank-you Message<\/sup><\/p>\n<p>Notice that this message is short, specific to the situation that prompted it, sincere, relatively selfless, and spontaneously sent the day of the incident that prompted it. It would certainly bring a smile both to the recipient and sender, strengthening their professional bond.<\/p>\n<h3>Congratulatory Messages<\/h3>\n<p>Celebrating the successes of your professional peers shows class and tact. It\u2019s good karma that will come back around as long as you keep putting out positive energy. Again, the 5 S\u2019s apply in congratulatory messages, especially selflessness. Such messages are all about the person you\u2019re congratulating. You could say, for instance, <em>I really admire how you handled yourself with such grace and poise under such trying circumstances in the field today.<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>Expressions of Sympathy<\/h3>\n<p>Few situations require such sincerity and care with words as expressions of sympathy. Misfortune comes upon us all, and tough times are just a little more tolerable with the support of our friends, family, and community\u2014including those we work with. When the loved-one of a close associate dies, for instance, expressing sympathy for their loss is customary, often with a card signed by everyone in the workplace who knows the bereaved. You can\u2019t put an email on the mantle like you can a collection of cards from people showing they care.<\/p>\n<p>What do you say in such situations? A simple <em>I\u2019m so sorry for your loss<\/em>, despite being a stock expression, is better than letting the standard Hallmark card\u2019s words speak for you (Guffey et al., 2016, p. 147). In some situations, laughter\u2014or at least a chuckle\u2014may be the best medicine, in which case something along the lines of Emily McDowell\u2019s witty <a href=\"https:\/\/emilymcdowell.com\/collections\/empathy-cards\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Empathy Cards<\/a> would be more appropriate. McDowell\u2019s <em>There Is No Good Card for This: What to Say and Do When Life Is Scary, Awful, and Unfair to People You Love<\/em> (2016) collaboration with empathy expert Kelsey Crowe, PhD, provides excellent advice. Showing empathy by saying that you know how hard it can be is helpful as long as you don\u2019t go into any detail about their loss or yours. Remember, these messages should be selfless, and being too specific can be a little dangerous here if it produces traumatic imagery. Offering your condolences in the most respectful, sensitive manner possible is just the right thing to do.<\/p>\n<h3>Replying to Goodwill Messages<\/h3>\n<p>It wouldn\u2019t go over well if someone thanked you for your help and you just stared at them silently. The normal reaction is to simply say <em>You\u2019re welcome!<\/em> Replying to goodwill messages is therefore as essential as writing them. Such replies must be even shorter than the messages that they respond to. If someone says a few nice things about you in an email about something else, always acknowledge the goodwill by saying briefly \u201cThank you very much for the kind words\u201d somewhere in your response.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":847,"menu_order":7,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[48],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-287","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry","chapter-type-numberless"],"part":271,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/businesswritingessentials2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/businesswritingessentials2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/businesswritingessentials2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/businesswritingessentials2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/847"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/businesswritingessentials2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/287\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1209,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/businesswritingessentials2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/287\/revisions\/1209"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/businesswritingessentials2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/271"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/businesswritingessentials2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/287\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/businesswritingessentials2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/businesswritingessentials2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=287"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/businesswritingessentials2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=287"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/businesswritingessentials2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}