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Seeking sample thank you templates

Alice Bumgarner, Moderator

Alice Bumgarner, editor of Administrative Professional Today and contributing writer for Executive Leadership, has been writing about workplace and family issues for 13 years. Her articles have appeared in dozens of publications, including http://Salon.com, http://MSN.com, Continental magazine, Southern Living and Town & Country. She lives in Durham, N.C., with her husband, two daughters and dog Milo.

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Question: I need to send a thank you letter to the families of some of our team members who have been working extra long hours on a specific project. This letter needs to tell the families how much we appreciate their "spouse, mom, dad, etc." spending time away from their family. Got any templates along those lines? I was hoping not to have to start from scratch. -- Caron Nugent

Comments

What a nice gesture! We have done something similar to thank our employees for working during the days after Thanksgiving, including the weekend. Perhaps you can use this wording, changing it a bit to suit your situation. Our employees were so pleased at this small gesture, they would actually display the cards at their desks.

Dear XXXX,

Thank you for taking time during the recent holidays to put in additional time and effort here at (name of company). We realize that no one enjoys being away from friends and family during this busy time of the year.

Your dedication and hard work did not go unnoticed. Please accept my sincere appreciation.

Sincerely,
XXX (Our CEO signed each card personally)

Posted by: | June 08, 2007 at 02:17 PM

Reading your post, it looks like you already have the thank you written. If you know the family members' names use them. Just the ACT of sending a simple sincere "thank you" is often more important than the actual words or content.

Posted by: | June 08, 2007 at 02:17 PM

I'd highly recommend buying the book, "How to Say It." It has sample letters and wording for all sorts of situations (complaints, condolence, congratulations, invitations -- the list goes on and on!). I use it all the time -- why "reinvent the wheel?"

Posted by: Lisa | June 08, 2007 at 02:26 PM

I have a compilation similar to "How to Say It" and this is their recommended generic template:

Dear _________:

The (____ project) exceeded its goal because of the hard work on the part of our team.

As (team leader) of this project, I know how much work you and the other team members put into the project. The extra hours worked that would have been spent with your families is much appreciated by me, but more importantly, (by those who will benefit directly from your efforts).

Sincerely,

Posted by: Sandy | June 08, 2007 at 02:43 PM

If you can afford to do so, you should consider including a gift card to a local restaurant to allow/encourage them to be able to go on a date/family outing following this time period when the employee was not as accessible...it could even be a smaller amount to a place like an ice cream shop. This makes it come across as even more sincere.

Posted by: Julie | June 08, 2007 at 03:13 PM

Here is a link to a page that gives you the six-point formula to the proper thank-you by Leslie Harpold of The Morning News.

http://www.themorningnews.org/archives/how_to/how_to_write_a_thankyou_note.php

I pull this out each time I write a thank-you note. Hope it helps.

Posted by: Kim | June 12, 2007 at 01:02 PM

Try signing up here...it's inexpensive and cards can be purchased for less than $1. A super great program, and it's all done online. Good luck. If any questions, please contact me.
rhonda@virtuallyyours925.com
www.sendoutcards.com/17346

Posted by: Rhonda | June 28, 2007 at 08:57 PM

Tags: employees

Best-Practices Leadership: Team management tips and fun team-building activities to boost team performance, collaboration and morale