What are the polite ways to remind people of things that they have apparently forgot? Is it Ok/normal to say "please be reminded that …"?
I know generally speaking, it's better to use "I" instead of "you", but even so, say to use something like "I'd like to remind you…", sounds too "accusing" to me.
What are the better alternatives for a friendlier reminder? Thanks
Best Answer
I've actually profitably made heavy use of the phrase "friendly reminder" in email and text. As in:
or
The other thing you can do, which I also do, is to skip the preamble about how they might have forgotten, and simply reiterate the information they might have forgotten -- or otherwise slip it into the conversation:
A related trick is to include a reminder, clarification or request about something else entirely which happens to include the stealth reminder for what you're really concerned about:
Another trick, one which I don't use personally, but have seen others use, is to pretend one might have forgotten, oneself, and ask the party you suspect of forgetting for confirmation:
Yet another approach I use with my sometimes flaky boss, regarding our 1-on-1 meetings, is to ask, as if no commitment had been made, whether something is true (typically via SMS which is the only way to get him when he's in other meetings):
The nice thing about this approach is it lets him save face if he forgot and made other plans: he can just write back "No, not this week" or "No, I have to debargle the overthrusters" or "No, let's meet next week". He doesn't have to admit he forgot. Also, it doesn't make me look like I'm nagging him, the way sending reminders might.