Writing a Thank You Email in Business Communication

Communication Spotlights

The Communication Spotlight features innovative instructors who teach written, oral, digital/technological, kinetic, and visual communication modes.

Jennifer Hite received her BA majoring in Environmental Studies with a minor in Political Science from University of California at Santa Barbara, her MA in Communication Management from the Annenberg School of Communication at University of Southern California. She received a PhD in Organizational Behavior at UCI/The Paul Merage School of Business. Professor Hite has been an Instructor at the Annenberg School of Communication at USC, School of Business Administration at USC and UCI/The Paul Merage School of Business. She is a member of the Academy of Management, International Communication Association and the Society for Human Resources Management. 

What is the assignment? 

Thank You Email Assignment Prompt

Write a message: The purpose of the message is to thank someone who has helped you to achieve your goals.

Think back on your life. Who has helped you to be where you are now or helped you decide on the path to take? Your note can be written to a former employer, a former professor or teacher, a mentor, a coach, anyone who you feel grateful to for their time and help. Because this is a business communications class and this is a formal business message, you may not write to a family member.

The message should be at least three paragraphs (opening, body and closing) and should be able to be viewed on a single screen when opened (no or little scrolling is needed to read the message). 

Planning and brainstorming: This is not a general, generic thank you email. Your purpose is to thank the recipient for helping you reach a goal, and the content will give examples of how the person helped you reach your goals.

How does it work?

The thank you email assignment is the first writing assignment students do in MGMT 191W. It’s not too intimidating, yet they learn how to structure a routine message and a professional email. They learn how to organize paragraphs and they create and use a signature block. One of the nice outcomes is that once they send the email to the person they are thanking, they usually get a lovely, warm response in return.

What do students say?

“The Thank You Email assignment taught me to use the “You” attitude effectively [audience-centered approach] so that I wouldn’t get carried away talking about myself and my accomplishments as a result of their help. Keeping the recipient at the forefront as often as possible can make the letter more genuine and convey my gratefulness accordingly. I liked this assignment because it helped me learn a skill that is extremely valuable in maintaining relationships, easy to do, yet is often overlooked.” – Student Response

Student Artifact: 

This student took to heart our instructions, to find a more sophisticated way of reminding recipients how they knew them in the first paragraph instead of “I was your student in 2019.” It’s a bit of problem solving that nudges them towards thinking more carefully about word choice. The introduction sets up the email and the middle paragraph uses specific examples to illustrate why they appreciate the recipient. It ends on a positive, warm, and upbeat note.

Why does this work?

This context-dependent writing assignment encourages students to identify a very specific audience – just one person! – and craft a thoughtful, genre-specific piece of writing to connect with that audience. This helps students build professional communication skills and build facility with the professional email communication genres. 

Check out these resources for developing context-dependent assignments in your communication classes:

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