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How do you greet multiple recipients in an e-mail?

"Dear All" is what I see the most or "Hi guys", but I don't like these terms. They don't seem slick enough, to me.

Anyone has other suggestions?

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@Marthaª: Except in that one the OP actually said that "Sirs" seems a bit informal, which suggests that the context, and the kind of answer he was looking for, is different to this one (which asks for something more "slick"). – FumbleFingers Jan 19 '12 at 23:36
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@FumbleFingers, except I think that my answer to the older question ("Greetings") would work just as well for this one. In fact, all of the answers would work for this question. To me, that says "dupe". – Marthaª Jan 19 '12 at 23:39
@Marthaª: I think it's a fine point that I don't feel strongly about. But I do think in this one Gnawme's bare "Colleagues" feels better for what little context we have, and the nearest equivalent in the other is Reg's "Dear colleagues" buried away in a host of other alternatives. If I had the technology to "merge" both questions and answers (and the energy) I probably would. Or if OP here accepts Gnawme's answer, then it could just sit here after being closed, with maybe a link back to it in case anyone comes to that one first but isn't happy with the offerings there. – FumbleFingers Jan 19 '12 at 23:51

marked as duplicate by Marthaª, simchona♦, Mitch, Brendon, MετάEd Jan 20 '12 at 18:18

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3 Answers

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I often start off group emails with "Colleagues:"

(Although, I've had such a depressing lack of female colleagues lately that my more usual salutation is "Gentlemen:")

I've also used "Teammates:" as a slightly less formal greeting.

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Colleagues (without any preceding Hi or Dear) is an excellent choice. It is sad that you can get away with Gentlemen (for the reason you give), but if you did have at least a couple of women in the office I think it would be a bit "staid" to change it to Ladies and Gentlemen. And what about the intermediate phase when you only have one female colleague? Lady and Gentlemen would be truly AWFUL! – FumbleFingers Jan 19 '12 at 23:20
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@FumbleFingers Ah; you reminded me that in the not-too-distant past, when I had one female colleague on my team, I used "Teammates:" as a salutation. I've added it to my answer. – Gnawme Jan 19 '12 at 23:24
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Why the mates ? Wouldn't Hi Team, do? We do it sometimes and we hear it a lot. – Kris Jan 21 '12 at 9:44
@Kris I'd forgetten that I've also used Team:; due to attrition, I currently don't have a team :-(. The -mates ending feels more inclusive as well. – Gnawme Jan 21 '12 at 18:03
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Well, there is that awful "To Whom It May Concern" or, since this is an email and, IMHO, not formal at all, simply omit the greeting.

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We use (geography-agnostically) Hi, for most communications; Dear Folks, where we want to sound going a bit overboard with enthu'. Anything else is too formal for internal email.

Probably because we are only too conscious of differences across locations.

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