To my boss, about another group entirely, and Im sure she knows me well enough to know what I meant. Their natural automatic understanding of the words is just different from what the speaker wanted to make understood. :). Sometimes Ive had people reply with Do I need to know more? or Is there more? and then we can have a conversation about that, rather than me give them a long monologue without checking in with them first to make sure they want to know more. Ive already posted something like four comments in this thread, which is kind of amazing since I dont think Ive ever consciously considered my thoughts on please advise before. It openly pisses people off. Are they presenting you with new information about something thats typically your responsibility? Please let me know what options you have in the $20 range. ", I love how the editors make my work so much better. I had other people read them and they never got angry from my emails, they said my emails read as clear and matter of fact. Terrible. If shes not at her office phone chances are shes in another building or on another floor or in a meeting. Same as something like, what can we do about this? It can be a genuine question or it can be a thinly veiled way of saying I would like you to tell me how to help you not do something like this again.. It comes across as condescending to me. I cant see it however the email had the comment. It sets my teeth on edge. 3. Its actually pretty nice, IMO I hate when someone calls me unexpectedly and wants me to look into some issue while Im in the middle of something (and hence most of the time I dont answer the phone if Im not expecting a call). Please advise (your dept.) Me too. So its not on top of a question. T eilen Sie mir bitte auch mit, wel che Zahlungsweis e fr Sie gnstig ist - entweder. Since that is what you actually want to know, couldnt you ask what are the options here? instead of please advise? Ive actually built a macro into our corporate chat program where I type (512 and it expands into (512) 123-4567 or tell me your # and Ill call you. Free and automatic, this tool compares phrases. So I just associate it with management instructions. Yes, person A can say 'I shall let you know how it went', and person B can say 'Please let me know how it went'. I thought, Maybe Im wrong? For some reason, it gets the point across to her that we need certain information now, not later or not ever, *the time between Lucy pulling the football away as he tries to kick it and before he hits the ground knowing that she DID IT AGAIN. I have been wondering how people bold or italicize here for ages, lol. I love seeing bitch eating crackers threaded through the various websites I read :-), Thats totally my thing. i really like it and never considered that it could be seen as condescending! This whole discussion is fascinating to me, because at my current job please advise is used a lot. my new hire is too attractive for me to manage her, my coworker has celebrity friends, asking to come back to an interview question, and more, Ive been grumpy at work, warning my predecessor about her reference, and more, http://thebillfold.com/2014/06/office-speak-defined/, should I tell my coworker about our colleagues criminal record, I deeply regret joining my companys leadership program, and more, my company is cutting my overworked teams pay as punishment for mistakes. + Read the full interview, Zubair Alam Chowdhury, Technical Support Specialist, TextRanch has helped me to improve my written skills as well as to communicate more naturally, like a local English speaker. Also, just the sheer volume of email I got made it necessary to adopt some kind of triage system, and people who plainly asked for what they wanted from me always got priority. ", Its one of the best way of improving written skills. I think thats kind of the same though I mostly get those when Im out of the office, and take it as a sign that theyre not expecting me to be available to take calls at any particular moment. It seems more like the person assumes that an IM is less invasive/interrupting than a phone call, so they want to check in before calling. Neutral phrases "Yes, Thursday is fine." (also with friends and colleagues) "Thursday suits me." "Thursday would be perfect." Informal phrases Yes, Thursday's great for me. Please advise. The servers youve asked me to scan dont exist. Especially if Im just showing up to help a busy desk (I work at a public library), it seems a lot more annoying to just plonk down behind the station and stare expectantly at the line until someone comes over to me. Oh man, Im on several listserves and several times a year someone requests a document, people flood inboxes with emails that say literally, please post and me too and thats it. estimated time: 30 minutes,directly in your inbox. Please advise if you require further information. I realize that it sounds more formal than please let me know.. If I have to remind you again, it wont be so friendly. My boss does that same thing, but she puts the most random words in all caps, and puts everything on an individual line. Same thing happened at my work placethousands of employees all responding with reply all. Payment will be expected in 48hours, if you wish to cancel your purchase, please let me know in this timeframe. Please advise. Which would be annoying. From the Cambridge English Corpus 4. Optimizing Autophagy: Could It Be the Secret . It feels like a power play. Im going to ask Alison!. I just mean I normally expect people to help me help them, by either spelling out the issue, and ideally by proposing at least one potential solution. Just this morning I had to send out a second reminder to someone about turning in something that should have been turned in two weeks ago. As in, The task youve given me is physically impossible. Can you please answer one of the 4 emails or 2 voicemails on this topic? Quick and gentle fall into the same category for me, with gentle being more annoying but quick also being annoying. Do you want to build a SNOWMAN?. Yes, just a little reminder at the end of the email that you cant proceed without input. To me, the worst is when I just get an email or text that says call me without any further context whatsoever. Its so delightfully vague! Yeah, Ive used it when I feel like there is a big complicated tangle of a situation and Im having trouble writing a concise question about it. Although I would agree that there are worse email offenses. In most cases, I find that the person writing this at the end of an email already asked me a question in the email. update: how can I turn down training requests from my clients? One of the problems with "Please advise" is that advise is a transitive verb, that is, it must have an object. Privacy Policy and Affiliate Disclosures. if you want. My last supervisor would copy me on everything, and most times the emails didnt have a question directly related to me so I wouldnt respond. ;)", So good. If I have a specific question, and I know the recipient is either really busy or prone to scanning emails, Ill usually state the question and then bold it. Please advise. (if you wanted instant notification you could have sent it yourself!) This exactly. I interpret it in one of the following ways: I have found that simply putting are you able to help me resolve this? Are they consulting you as an expert who has information they dont have? As in, Attached is the xyz report. This! I dont see anything wrong withplease advise. I reserve it for instances in which Im not explicitly asking a question and want to signal that I need a response/guidance. I think overall people have a hard time getting tone correct when reading emails. This got me into trouble so many times. By describing the problem and outlining the requested solution, the rest of your email is already telling me to do the needful. Personally, I tend to say something like Let me know, thanks! or Can you please let me know? when indicating I need a response and Im not ending with an obvious question. But she would write EmilyG, there is no copier paper left, do you know where to order some? At my job, theres generally a designated admin on the approved senders list. Like, if Im asking my manager a question, Id say Hey manager, this is the thing thats happening, what do you want me to do with that? but if I was emailing the CEO with a variety of other senior staff copied, Id say Here is the situation please advise. I could see how it might seem snotty when used in a situation that doesnt call for it, like youre being faux respectful. And if I had to contact them again regarding the same manner, I would just say follow up. *other English-speaking nations have their own usage or slang, [dont know where the rest of that sentence went]. Thank you in advance is completely fine when Im being asked to do something that I actually can do. I have ever heard Americans use the baby talk it is just 5 sleeps until we arrive at Disney World but I suppose they will pick it up since it is used so often by British travelers on line. Passive-aggressive or something. Thats what I use it for too! For me, I always feel weird finishing the body of the email with my question. Ive been working in an administrative role for the past two years and have found your blog very helpful. Early in my career I had a boss who would act super confused when I made a mistake. Its politely collaborative. Ok, now that I think more about it, I dont usually just write, Please advise. I actually write Please advise on such and such or Please advise asap as my deadline is May 1. I find it offensive and passive-aggressive. (I got that salutation a lot from coworkers in my office but rarely from folks in other offices.) The same thing happened at my old job as well! If it sounds normal and polite out loud, I think its fine to use in an email. Me too. Please let us know you thoughts on this. if you would prefer. I had a coworker that used to ignore my emails about half the time so one day I asked her why. Drugs are bad. Such a pet peeve of mine! You could use for your client, but I don't feel it's needed for your in-company superior (unless you're in a big company and sending to executives). + Read the full interview, I started to use TextRanch when I began to learn English. In which case my (uncensored) answer would be Yes is not an answer/an option. I used to work with someone who always put clear as mud? at the end of emails that were, in fact, quite clear. They could respond to leave the rx as written, or change it to something else, or not understand what the problem is, or not understand why Im faxing (so I try to make my faxes very well organized and clear). I also feel it may have something to do with the nature of the relationship you have with the sender it drove me up the wall to receive an email with please advise in it. I mean sure, I could email her and ask what number she can be reached at- but if shes not at her desk chances are she cant take the call right then anyway. LOL. I never, ever, take a no answer personally. Thats a great use for it. Or speaking whale a la Dory in Finding Nemo. I have marked this listing as Complete. Check availability now! The call me is a little short. is not business-like as you said. It has become something that is passed on from one new person to another. Comment: Is it possible that your reaction is based off your feelings in your role and the office dynamics? I do this too quite often. People who arent being that way would just ask what do you think? or how should i handle? . I always read it like shes yodeling at me. On many email systems, IT folks can lock down the major email lists with a restriction on who can send emails to them. portraitsbystanda.com. My peeve is when people reflexively end all emails with thanks, even when they are merely letting me know about something, not asking me for something. (I am a webmaster for many sites at my University, and a lot of times people from a department want me to do something to their site that is in conflict with ADA compliance/branding initiative/common sense, so if they dont take no for an answer when I explain why we cant do it that way, I bring in another person of influence, like my boss or someone in charge of university-level site compliance, or the persons own department chair, etc., and then explain the request, the problem with the request, and explain that Im trying to resolve the matter. Ive used friendly reminder before usually when the person has already missed the deadline. Theyre collectively the absolute worst when it comes to following up on e-mails because they never read them. I dont like What do you think? because Im not asking for thoughts or ideas, Im looking for explicit instructions on what to do next. Its never even occurred to me that someone would take issue with it. Both are perfectly fine, use which ever you prefer! If I put FYI instead, they know they dont need to reply to me. My current manager is really fond of the smiley faces in outlook, so I have a rule button that replies to messages with just a smiley face. Thanks, Thank you !! Im saying heres the situation, tell me what to do.. I sign my emails with Regards all the time. Current Job involves getting buy-in and approvals from various far-flung parts of Big Bank whose employees are generally overworked, overwhelmed, or just dont know/care about Current Job, because Big Bank manages crisis-to-crisis without ever resolving underlying structural issues because hey, why should they? I think youre too stupid to realize that Ive asked you a question and I want an answer. Want to improve your English business writing? Get your English checked! } I met some Icelandic people who complained about how uncomfortably close Americans stood. There are a handful of people at work who use this on every.single.email. If the person who sends you emails with this is in is known for being demanding and bratty, then you have a problem, and it isnt that they say please advise in their emails. and the comments from the editors", My editor understood my intention and gave me a good advice !! 1 The New York Times Stands for very respectfully. In his defense, hes like 70-something, but whoo boy. I dont like please advise either, but there are so many other awful things people do either inadvertently or deliberately (passive aggression is the worst) I feel like I have to pick battles. Im a little behind. Research indicates, however, that including "don't know" options actually produces more problems than it solves. Then is it natural to say "Let me know when best suits you?" See a translation 1 like oldgeezer 17 Jul 2017 We used to have this. So I guess thats why Im defend about the Please advise thing. I will assume its friendly if you say just a reminder. Option 1 likely will result in this behavior but Option 2 will accomplish this.. :). I dont know. You can use this phrase when speaking to houseguests or new coworkers. + Read the full interview, Michel Vivas, Senior Technology Officer, TextRanch is amazingly responsive and really cares about the client. As a formal alternative, you can try using "kindly inform me if you disagree." "Please tell me if not" works well as a more informal option. I dont think I would even know what that meant. Please let me know how you would like to proceed. Not only does it annoy me because the person could have just called me, but I also now have a pit in my stomach, dreading whatever situation it is that requires a phone call without any written discussion. Yep. I mean, intellectually, I agree with everyone whos said youre overthinking this. But I cant STOP overthinking it and want to know why Im overthinking it to begin with. if (w.addEventListener) { If you're on the conservative side, you may want to just take my word for it. How do you feel about putting those words in bold instead? Thats how I use it too. Its all about being able to read the culture of your workplace. Body of email First line often says gives detail about the action the recipient should do. What/how about Monday for lunch? If you'd prefer to cancel your membership placed through Shipt by contacting our customer support team, you can call our dedicated line at (205) 259-7798 between 8 am - 8 pm CT. . Just say, "Please let me know when it's done." March 31, 2012. I cant see anything remotely annoying in the phrase though I dont use it myself. I guess I always thought of it as similar to Thanks for reading this e-mail or something. So I just describe the situation as briefly and clearly as I can and say something like please advise or Id appreciate your thoughts on this or Id really appreciate your help (leaving with the above nightmare unstated!). 0. I use it as more of a heads up- I need some input from you. I think theres probably something to this. I dont like gentle reminder either, but I think prefacing this kind of request with Just a reminder without the gentle is not a bad idea. 1st Option: Be the student who only gets average marks in every SAC and exam (50-60% in everything) and have a strong social life, while having fun memories at school. Battle #1: people who reply all to large groups with Please remove me from this email list Is that better? ), Much more annoying are cold callers from my bank or the internet supplier who finish up with Can I help you with anything else today? Grr. its the abrupt Please advise. end of statement that grates on me. give you my account number) or a check issued in favor of my person. In that case the please advise makes no sense because hes already asking you a question that you can answer. +1. Prefacing the word reminder with gentle or friendly is a feeble attempt to soften the blow. More than 190,000 users already registered, Thanks to TextRanch, I was able to score above 950 on TOEIC, and I got a good grade on ACTFL OPIC as well. I just love this). This weekend I decided to reorder the teapot lid process from Z to A, rather than A to Z because (insert reasons). (I wont get into the aggravating colleague who copies the boss on EVERY (sorry for the shouty capitals) email exchange between us, which is another reason why my emails resemble business letters I look more professional than she. But people tend to not like such things. Like youre reminding a toddler Timmy, we do not hit our friends in the face with our shoes.. 1. I think rocky relationships with colleagues and/or managers can have someone interpret all correspondence with some level of snark, condescending, shouting, bossy etc in tone even if it is genuinely not the case. It is a way of warning people to stay in the order they came. Please advise.. I lay out the problem and then ask for advice. I worked at a hospital with thousands of employees and some erroneous email went out to the entire hospital listserv (I dont even remember the original email), and for DAYS we kept getting emails from people saying Please take me off this email chain! and Please stop hitting reply all! DAYS OF THIS. It just seems more polite. Putting please advise instead of the second sentence would incline me to respond with something like. We talked about x but you did y, and Im really confused about how that happened. With furrowed brow and head tilt. Ummmmmmm. Then the person I speak with asks why not just do C? Plus I like telling people what to do. 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