Post by Col ISIHAC. on Mar 10, 2006 13:33:46 GMT
[glow=red,2,300][/glow]Lesson One[glow=red,2,300][/glow]
I'm bored. Time to spill some state secrets.
How to close an email.
I've noticed a bit of a trend with these - how do you close yours, by the way? It's a bit like the old Creme Egg advert, that, innit?
We Civil Servants are a polite, friendly yet generally reserved bunch. Despite this reservation and shyness - especially in the company of Senior Civil Servants (While sober) it's always nice to say bye-bye in an email. Even to people you do not care about and will never actually meet.
These days, the custom is to close with the word "Regards" then your name. If you have exchanged an email or two with this person, then "Kind Regards" might be appropriate. And for those with whom you have a genuine and important buddiness and you want to be informal, while preserving that business relationship "Best Regards" is a daring option!
This also allows the Civil Service to preserve the unspoken pecking order that has served every department through thick and thin for generations. This works best when the email is prepared and sent by a minion, who includes the closing on behalf of a Mandarin. If done carefully, it can make everyone feel important, loved and needed.
Before "Regards" became the order of the day, "HTD" was pretty well universal. HTD stands for Happy To Discuss, and the fact that it was abreviated shows just how universal it became. It died following a somewhat rare, but ultimately unsurprising rebellion by the rank and file. I mean. We are the ones who run the country, after all!
Although it might suggest openness and availability, HTD actually means one of two things; particuarly when appended to an instruction, explanation or direction.
1/ I'm not really happy to discuss, but if you are not bright enough to understand my missive, I'll humour you . Once.
2/ I'm not happy to discuss.
The backlash was successful, because people stopped questioning things they did not understand - even if they were in the same building, or on the same floor as the sender. HTD was outlawed mere SECONDS before the country's entire admnistrative system went into meltdown. You'll not have noticed this, unless you too are a Civil Servant. Keeping secrets is what it's all about, after all
I'm bored. Time to spill some state secrets.
How to close an email.
I've noticed a bit of a trend with these - how do you close yours, by the way? It's a bit like the old Creme Egg advert, that, innit?
We Civil Servants are a polite, friendly yet generally reserved bunch. Despite this reservation and shyness - especially in the company of Senior Civil Servants (While sober) it's always nice to say bye-bye in an email. Even to people you do not care about and will never actually meet.
These days, the custom is to close with the word "Regards" then your name. If you have exchanged an email or two with this person, then "Kind Regards" might be appropriate. And for those with whom you have a genuine and important buddiness and you want to be informal, while preserving that business relationship "Best Regards" is a daring option!
This also allows the Civil Service to preserve the unspoken pecking order that has served every department through thick and thin for generations. This works best when the email is prepared and sent by a minion, who includes the closing on behalf of a Mandarin. If done carefully, it can make everyone feel important, loved and needed.
Before "Regards" became the order of the day, "HTD" was pretty well universal. HTD stands for Happy To Discuss, and the fact that it was abreviated shows just how universal it became. It died following a somewhat rare, but ultimately unsurprising rebellion by the rank and file. I mean. We are the ones who run the country, after all!
Although it might suggest openness and availability, HTD actually means one of two things; particuarly when appended to an instruction, explanation or direction.
1/ I'm not really happy to discuss, but if you are not bright enough to understand my missive, I'll humour you . Once.
2/ I'm not happy to discuss.
The backlash was successful, because people stopped questioning things they did not understand - even if they were in the same building, or on the same floor as the sender. HTD was outlawed mere SECONDS before the country's entire admnistrative system went into meltdown. You'll not have noticed this, unless you too are a Civil Servant. Keeping secrets is what it's all about, after all
