Smiley faces in work emails - unprofessional?

[OpenBook]

I know I've complained about this on here before, but don't think I've started a thread about it. It drives me crazy to receive a work email with a smiley-face in it. It causes me to doubt the import of the email and makes the message hard to take seriously. I consider it unprofessional and childish.

Does anyone else out there have a similar reaction? I really don't understand why this bothers me so much. Smileys and other emoticons in posts - like the ones on this site - don't bug me at all. I assume the author is trying to convey or emphasize emotions that may not come across in the written word alone. I get it, in a post. Why don't I get it, in a work email???

For those of you who do insert smiley-faces in your professional emails, why do you do it?

[Foxhall]

I had a job paying various contractors for a while,

just thinking if they sent me a smiley in their e mail when looking for money, it would trigger me to pay them quicker.😊

[lana-banana]

If you know your audience doesn't like it, then don't. But I got excellent advice about using smiley faces as a means of defusing tensions. If you're really really irritated, even if your email itself is very professional and neutral, a smiley face can help convey that you mean no harm. It can make you feel calmer about it, too.

I don't see it as a big deal. I have worked for high-powered executives and military leaders who used smileys in their emails. It's really not a big deal anymore.

[d0nnivain]

They have their place but not usually in a work email.  On the rare occasions  when I have used them it's after a series of back & forth when the conversation has turned "personal".  Personal is also at the very far end of the spectrum & not intimate, but more like ending an email exchange before a long weekend of holiday by saying:  

Enjoy the long weekend.  We'll pick this up again on Tuesday.  😀

Again the above is about as far as I sojourn into personal in work emails. It signals sort of a light hearted way that work is over for now & I'm not dealing with it anymore until after my break.   I put a Christmas tree emojii at the end of a Merry Christmas after a week long business exchange with a former classmate from Catholic school who I knew celebrated Christmas.  They didn't have emojiis, but during the height of the Covid pandemic if I knew somebody at the firm where the person I corresponded with died, I offered condolences.  

If I got an invoice with a smiley face it would not cause me to pay faster,  I would Q the competence & professionalism of the sender.  There are no jokes in professional email, especially ones that would require pictorial confirmation that it was sarcasm.  

[OpenBook]

This helps. Thank you all for your feedback!

[mark clemson]

Different people have different tastes. I can understand the ambiguity of whether to take the email seriously if a smiley is clumsily used.

Clip art, for example in PowerPoints, has a similar issue. Some people really like it - others find it cartoonish, unprofessional, etc and so don't like it.

Everyone's different and I think it's literally impossible to please everyone. Generally, I think it's good to at least keep in mind that the folks using smileys normally mean no harm by them.

[Ruby Slippers]

I use them occasionally in work emails, only with people I think will be receptive.

My boss, a VP, is VERY serious and buttoned-down. Last week I got an email from him with a smilie. I was surprised, but thought it was cute. I'm guessing it's because he finally has a girlfriend he really likes and is a lot happier.

[Stillits]

I have the same reaction. thinking they have no place in a work related e-mail. It has to be said, that I do use them in work texts with people who I have build a rapport with outside work. 

 

 Once, I received an e-mail from my bank advisor on a serious topic, and he added a couple of smileys in it, too. I thought it was really out of place. 

[Wiseman2]

You need to get with the program. Many corporate cultures now encourage it. Read up on the Wall Street Journal.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/yes-you-actually-should-be-using-emojis-at-work-11563595262

[d0nnivain]

Interesting read.  Thanks @Wiseman2 but I would still urge caution with business emojiis.  Those used in the article were part of a deliberate work place culture.  Permission for the emjoiis was granted from on-high.  

[ssm617]

I sent smiley on emails to my supervisor. It has never been a problem. That being said, it could depend on how well a person gets along with co-workers/supervisors, the personality of said co-workers/supervisors, and the subject nature of the email. 

[OpenBook]

Right. I struggle to keep in mind that it's just a personal pet peeve of mine... that I'm the only one who's irritated by it, that the sender clearly doesn't see it the same way, and means no harm, and is just trying to express a positive sentiment or lighten the ambience (??). 🙄 One of the hallmarks of Emotional Intelligence - assuming the other person's intentions are good... even when you're baffled by them.