Should auto notifications include greeting / salutations?

Question

I have built a template to follow when creating auto notifications from an internal system (for employees only), I had been advocating for including the greeting Hello <Name>.

Currently the auto notifications say Dear <Name>, which I think is very old fashioned.

However, now I am questioning whether we need a greeting at all. It's obviously an auto generated email and there are rules as to when you would receive it (i.e. only if it is a status update or for an action – not FYI purposes).

Is the greeting superfluous given we are all very busy and just want to know what we need to do?

Answer 1

It's all about the purpose of the message:

For a message that conveys factual information such as an acknowledgement of submission or system update I would say you could go with with John Doe, or no name at all.

If it is something like a seasonal greeting then Hi John, or Hello John Doe, would be more suitable.

Answer 2

It really depends on the tone of the message itself. If purely informational and somewhat formal, I would say go with simply John Doe,. However, if the tone is light and informal, I'd go with Hello Mr. Doe,.

Another thing to consider is whether these messages are intended to seem as if they are being written by humans or simply a transfer of information from computer to human. If the latter, no greeting is warranted, if the former, it would be just as appropriate as in a message from another human.