You Should Not Be Using a Strict Template for Most Emails. Here’s Why:

People are smarter than you think, and they can figure out when someone is using a templated email or part of an email. While using templates can be an effective way to do the same thing multiple times and get similar results, it can have the opposite effect when working with people. In my experience as a professional, I’ve seen emails where the “if you have any questions, please let me know” phrase is coded in with the automatic signature, and this has the opposite effect. Because I know it was not directly written as an intended part of the communication, I don’t see it as genuine. In the modern professional setting, taking the time to personally write out communications and add a somewhat personal touch to certain things makes a huge difference when working with other people. But adding this personal touch takes time, which is why I developed a pattern for myself instead of a template to stay efficient but still genuine. By maintaining a writing pattern, I make sure I stay consistent with my communication style, but simultaneously add the personal touch to every email to get things done. My job involves a lot of requests back and forth between coworkers and clients, and taking the time to acknowledge others, saying “please” and “thank you”, or adding a quick “I hope you had a nice weekend”, has done wonders for getting things done. People simply care more when they know you are being genuine. 

There are scenarios where sending a template is effective because it fits the context, such as standard communications from HR, or providing and requesting certain types of documents, but these scenarios are not as common in most people’s day-to-day.   

Instead of copy and pasting things into emails, try this:

Develop your own writing pattern! Instead of writing things using the same words each time, develop a few different ways to say things that can be applied to many situations. Doing this allows you to be more flexible in communication while maintaining some of the efficiencies of email templates. Here’s how I break up my emails:

1. Hello [Recipient],

2. (Something personable topical as an introduction for a first email chain, or an acknowledgement of the most recent communication to keep the conversation going)

   1. I hope you had a great holiday weekend!

   2. Thank you for those documents that you sent over

3. (Whatever I need to say) 

4. (An acknowledgment of the recipient’s time or effort, followed by some concluding remarks)

   1. It was great working with you this year, I hope you enjoy your vacation!

   2. Thanks again for all the hard work on this, if you have any questions about these requests feel free to reach out to me directly and I'll do my best to help. 

The important thing to note here is that I am maintaining ideas for what to put in the email and not the language itself. By doing this, no two emails to the same person read exactly the same. While it may seem like a silly thing to do, using this approach over a standard template has proven to be a very effective way to write consistent, genuine email communications that get results over the alternative, and I credit a good portion of my success to using strategies like this to make more human connections in the professional world. Give it a try!