From last month's discussion on whether technology affects travel, we move on to another technology related question: Is it unprofessional to use emoticons in business correspondence?

Here we ask two successful entrepreneurs, Sam Tan and Sofie Mahmood, on what they think about this modern corporate dilemma.

 

Sam Tan, Group Managing Director of Ken Holdings Berhad

YES

I believe that using emoticons in formal business correspondence is not the most professional way to project onself. This is more so when writing an official letter where a certain decorum and protocol is expected and needs to be followed. Obviously the use of emoticons in those circumstances will not project the most professional image. When you think about it, you would never put a “smiley face” in an email drafted for an official, would you? In fact, including emoticons in a formal business context could also be seen as a sign of disrespect by the person reading your email, who may not
take you seriously.

Having said that, nowadays everything is changing thanks to technological innovations, such as the widespread use of smartphones, which makes a business correspondence easier and faster. Most of the time people would communicate through whatsapp or other social chats, and in these situations I don’t think it would be bad to include a smiley face or two. However, to stretch on what I stated above, when a business correspondence is done through exchanging of emails, which is a more formal way of communication, emoticons should not be used.

 

 

 

Sofie Mahmood, Founder and CEO of Aemos and Founder of First On The Block

NO

In the absence of body language, tone of voice and facial expressions in correspondence, emoticons can come in handy. However, to ensure that it remains a business correspondence, one should still maintain proper use of grammar and language. Emoticons can be useful to get that pitch-perfect delivery of content-message and remove the anxiety when the recipient reads it. Furthermore, it can bring the relationship closer. I am of the belief that a good relationship in business goes a long way. I would caution against using emoticons in the first correspondence. You would want to know the person before you start using emoticons and also limit those emoticons to one or two expressions.

I believe that the benefits of emoticons in business correspondence are clarifying the tone of the contents, building a closer relationship in business, and when words fail to express the message across, emoticons can actually help! They may be a big time-saver to convey feelings quickly and keep the contents light. However, I have to add that using emoticons in a business correspondence—instant messaging, emails, SMS texts—is fine as long as it is not a formal letter.

 

What's your say? Let us know in the poll below:

 

Last month's great debate: Does technology ruin travel?

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