How to say thank you

I just received the care package you sent and wanted to say thank you. As you know, work has been brutal these last few weeks and when I got the package in the mail today, it made my day. Thank you for all that you do to make us feel cared for at work. It makes a huge difference!

How to Write a Meaningful Thank You Note

Many of us fear expressing our thanks to others. We might worry that our efforts will be misinterpreted or make the person on the receiving end uncomfortable. Or we might struggle to find the right words to express how we feel. Here’s how to do it right.

We all want to be appreciated. Whether you’ve accepted a task while your plate is already full, worked through weekends to get a project off the ground, or simply been there for a work friend when they needed your support, an acknowledgement or “thank you” can go a long way in making us feel good about the efforts we put in — and the research supports this.

A recent study from McKinsey & Company found that although most employers believe that the large number of people who quit their jobs this year were looking for better compensation, most were leaving because they didn’t feel valued and lacked a sense of belonging at work. Another study found that receiving more frequent appreciation from our colleagues and managers doesn’t only make us feel respected, it’s also linked to better performance.

The many benefits of gratitude may be explained by the feel-good chemicals released in our brains upon expressing or receiving it. Dopamine and serotonin are two neurotransmitters responsible for immediately uplifting our moods. When we give or experience thanks daily, we strengthen these neural pathways.

The problem is that many of us hold fears around expressing our thanks to others. I’ve seen this time and again through my work training leaders in the art of recognition and engagement. Some people want to express appreciation more often but fear that their efforts will be misinterpreted or make the person on the receiving end uncomfortable. Others struggle to find the right words to express what they feel, or they worry that their remarks might be seen as kissing up or as masking a hidden agenda.

While these fears are valid, they can also stop us from experiencing the long list of rewards gratitude has to offer. One method I’ve found useful for overcoming them is starting small, with a simple thank-you note. There are a few simple rules you can follow to make sure your efforts are taken to heart (and not negatively misinterpreted).

Graduation, wedding, baby and other life events

The challenging thing about these life-event thank-you notes is that you likely have several of them to write. It’s fine to develop a general formula for what you’ll write, but anytime the task starts to become burdensome, put down your pen and come back to it later. You want to sound appreciative and enthusiastic, and you’re more likely to come across that way if you write five thank-you cards a day over 10 days, rather than 50 all at once.

• “Wow! We are so touched by your generous wedding gift. The place settings will be used and enjoyed often—and we’ll think of you every time.”
• “Thank you for adding to the joy of our wedding with your warm wishes and thoughtful gift. We love the candlesticks and how they look on our hall table.”
• “Thank you for the adorable fire engine sleeper and bib for Ben. You put a smile in our hearts. Can’t wait to send you a picture of him wearing it!”
• “From the bottom of my heart, thank you for organizing the group gift of the car seat and stroller for my baby shower. You shouldn’t have. (But it’s so nice you did!)”
• “Thank you for the e-reader! I’m already using it and loving it. I really appreciate you thinking of me on my graduation.”
• “I so appreciate your thoughtful graduation gift to me. The watch is beautiful, and it almost makes me look like a real grown-up when I wear it 😉 Thank you so much. You’re the best!”

Writing tip: You get a little more time to write thank-you cards for graduation, wedding, shower and baby gifts. It’s still best to write and send a card as soon as possible, but for a wedding gift, you have up to three months to send it. And if you have a new baby, people will understand if it takes that long or longer.

Let Simply Noted Upgrade Your Thank You Notes

Simply Noted offers peerless automated handwritten notes and letters. You can order any number of thank you notes and our handwriting robots will write your cards with real ballpoint pens and our proprietary smart “Infinity” fonts. The results are indistinguishable from real handwritten cards. You could write them yourself, but why would you? Let Simply Noted write them for you. The time that you and your company will save makes a real difference.

So next time you want to say a meaningful thank you, just remember the power of a gesture. It doesn’t matter if it’s an email, a phone call, or an automated, handwritten card from Simply Noted. As long as your tone is sincere and conveys how much you care about that person, there will be no mistaking your gratitude for them because they’ll feel it too!

Sources:

https://hbr.org/2021/11/how-to-write-a-meaningful-thank-you-note
https://ideas.hallmark.com/articles/thank-you-ideas/thank-you-messages-what-to-write-in-a-thank-you-card/
https://simplynoted.com/blogs/news/how-do-you-say-thank-you-meaningfully