Colleague Emails

Purpose

The world is a crazy place where people get busy or so caught up in their own lives that they skip out on opportunities to congratulate or support their peers. Professional burnout, anxiety, and imposter syndrome are all readily apparent in STEM fields–especially for minority populations. For this smaller assignment, you need to welcome 2 of your new colleagues to the SciCom team via a professional “email.” I put “email” in quotation marks here because you’ll be writing in email format, but you’ll be submitting your assignment as a “Reply” to your colleagues’ bios.

Audience

The audience for this assignment is the person to whom you are writing. The only information you know about this person is what they provided in their bios.

Style Conventions

The writing style for this email can be a bit more relaxed, but it should still show professionalism and respect.

Proofread carefully to avoid any typos, errors, or unnecessary language. Please do not forget to run spellcheck! As a rule of thumb, make a habit of running spellcheck at least twice for any document.

Everything should be in paragraph form, which means that you focus on using complete sentences and paragraphs. Make sure that all sentences are organized in a logical way, using transition words and phrases as needed.

Use emojis and exclamations points sparingly. In my opinion, there’s nothing wrong with using such elements especially if you’ve seen it happening in other company or lab communications.

Content, Organization, and Document Design Requirements

In addition to the required elements above, each email should do the following:

  • Formally address the recipient of the email. Don’t address the recipient as if they’re a person who just knocked a taco out of your hand. In other words, don’t start with hey, yo, just a first name, or (and I shouldn’t have to say it) an expletive.
  • Welcome the person to “the team.” This email is meant to be celebratory and express your excitement to be working with a new colleague or team member. Stay professional but also show your support!
  • Introduce yourself. Who are you and what do you do? Remember, this email isn’t about you; it’s all about the recipient so your introduction should be short and sweet.
  • Highlight something that you find interesting about the person’s profile. This shouldn’t be a technical response like, “Jeepers, I really enjoyed your use of the Oxford comma.” I get it; we all love the Oxford comma. Instead, you should look at the content over the form. Does something interest you about what they’ve studied, researched, or where the want to end up after graduation?
  • Find common ground. Is there something that you would like to work with them on? How do you think your work could harmonize with theirs? Finding common ground is a great way to make friends, but it also shows that you’re putting in the effort to form a positive relationship with this person.
  • Look to the future. You’ll be working with this new colleague for at least 5 weeks. Offer a positive outlook on the future. Wish them well on their endeavors or express your excitement for materials that they might produce.
  • Remind them why you messaged them. Provide a TL;DR (too long; didn’t read) sentence at the end to remind them of the overall purpose of the email.
  • Finish the email with a friendly closing. You don’t know the person that well so you probably want to avoid closings that are too personal like “Your Friend” or “Your Dearly Beloved.” But you also don’t want to come off as cold and distant through closings such as “Cordially” or “Sincerely.” Find a closing that resonates with the tone and purpose of your message.
  • Please do not worry about word count. Think more about how you would complete this for real–not just for this assignment. Be respectful of the recipient’s time. Do not try to cover everything in this short email. Instead, make choices about what information is most important and supportive for them to hear.

Example Email:

Hello First Name Last Name:

Congratulations on joining the team! My name is XX, and I’m so excited to be working with you. I noticed that you’re interested in Subject Area. Although I study Major, I’ve always been fascinated by Topic Related to Subject Area. Maybe I’ll be able to understand it better by reading some of the materials you produce this semester. I’d love to bounce some ideas off of you as the course progresses. It’s wonderful to e-meet you, First Name! I wish you the best of luck with your assignments, and I hope that we get the opportunity to work together soon. Once again, welcome to the team!

Best,

XX

Deadline

This assignment is due as a REPLY to 2 other classmates by Sunday, May 17th at 11:59pm. Also, please try to comment on posts that don’t have a lot of responses. I don’t want any posts without at least one reply.