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Work remotely? Here’s why you should think about your email signature.
For employees, the spread of flexible work schedules since the pandemic has put a premium on getting their digital email signatures right. After all, with millions of Americans now working remotely, it’s becoming ever more important to let colleagues and clients know when they’re on and off the clock, including when not to expect a reply right away.
Take Jesse Kent, president of Derring-Do, a small public relations firm in New York. Ever since the pandemic, he has included the following line of text below his name in his email signature: “My work day may look different than your work day. Please do not feel obligated to respond out of your normal hours.”
Kent has long worked unconventional hours, a necessity given the need to be available to his clients around the world. And post-COVID he’s also seen a shift in how they operate. “I’ve noticed my clients are also riding the flexible work wave, fitting in their replies whenever they can, even if that means pausing for family moments and circling back to work later in the evening,” he told CBS MoneyWatch.
Kent also said his digital signature has been well received.
“It’s been a hit. Clients, journalists and others in the loop have really appreciated the nod to flexible working hours over the stiff 9-to-5 routine, allowing everyone to reply when it suits them best,” he said.
Transparency is key
Non-profit veteran Laurie Greer, who most recently worked as a vice president at NextUp, a women’s empowerment organization, also added a flexible-work notice to her email signature for the first time during the pandemic.
It now reads: “I work on a flexible work schedule and across a number of time zones so I’m sending this message now because it works for me. Feel free to read, act on or respond at a time that works for you.”
“I wrote it during the pandemic, but it makes even more sense now because so many people keep flexible work schedules, and that’s something we promote, especially in women’s equality organizations,” she told CBS MoneyWatch. “People step away from their desks to fix their kids’ lunch and they may come back on at 7 or 8 at night, so I want to be respectful of that.”
In Greer’s case, she’s most concerned about being respectful of other people’s time. “I am including this in my signature to give them the opportunity and the ability to work when they feel is most beneficial to them,” she said.
Public relations pro Brenda Manea, an employee of a firm called BAM communications agency, makes clear in every email that her firm has adopted a four-day work week.
What started as a test program about a year ago has become permanent policy, and her signature now reads: “BAM is a flexible agency, with teams working across multiple time zones Mon-Thurs. I may be slow to respond on Fridays.”
Transparency is key in communicating to how the agency operates, Manea said. “It’s what has helped us make it work. You show people how you want to be treated, and the signature is an example of that.”
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Long before comic book characters dominated movie screens, actor Christopher Reeve made the world believes in superheroes with the 1978 classic “Superman.”
Reeve died in 2004, nearly a decade after an accident re-shaped his life. “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” is using interviews with family and friends and never-before-seen home videos to explore his real-life heroism.
Reeve started his career on the stage, studying at the prestigious Juilliard School and living with comedian Robin Williams. The pair had a friendship that was “more like a brotherhood,” said Reeve’s son Matthew. Reeve was in awe of Williams’ energy and versatility, Matthew Reeve said, but audiences quickly clued into Reeve’s own star power when he took on the role of the Man of Steel.
Warner Bros. Pictures / Getty Images
To his children, though, he “was just dad,” Matthew Reeve said. The documentary explores how Matthew Reeve and his sister Alexandra Reeve Givens grew up watching their dad take the stage as Superman. “Super/Man” also reveals their heartbreak over their parents’ breakup and the joy they found when Reeve re-married. He tied the knot with Dana Reeve in 1992, and the pair welcomed another child, William Reeve, later that year.
“Dana was sunshine,” Alexandra Reeve Givens recalled. “She just brought joy with her wherever she was and could find it even in the darkest moments.”
Those dark moments came suddenly, when in 1995, a near-fatal horseback riding accident left Reeve paralyzed from the neck down. The documentary allows viewers to see, for the first time, what went on out of the public’s view. Reeve can be heard talking about how he “ruined (his) life and everybody else’s,” but in a touching moment, old friend Robin Williams is seen visiting him in the hospital.
“Robin showed him ‘Hey, you’re still you,'” Alexandra Reeve Givens said. “‘You still have this foundation of friendship and people around you, who adore you. And you’re going to find those fun moments in life again.'”
That support from friends and family re-ignited Reeve’s legacy of activism. He made appearances at the Democratic National Convention and the 68th Academy Awards in 1996, about a year after the accident. Matthew Reeve said watching his father address his industry peers at the Oscars was “one of (his) most proud moments.”
“It was just a production for him to get out of bed every morning, let alone get across the country and go out in public for the first time,” Matthew Reeve said. “It was a big deal. It was a big deal to him, but it was also a big deal to the entire disability community. We stayed up in London till like three in the morning to watch that live. It’s a fond memory.”
Vince Bucci/AFP via Getty Images
Reeve also went on to launch what would become the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, which is dedicated to advancing research into spiral cord injury and help individuals and families impacted by paralysis. It was his dad’s mission to find a cure, Matthew Reeve said, while his stepmother wanted to focus on improving the lives of paralyzed people and their families. The foundation and Reeve’s platform helped bring unprecedented attention and funding to spinal cord injury research.
Reeve even kept acting and realized his lifelong dream of directing with the 1997 HBO movie “In the Gloaming.” Reeve died in 2004 from heart failure at 52.
“There is a huge amount of great actors and actresses out there, where their filmography might be amazing and what they achieve on a cultural level might be amazing, but have they actually achieved anything really as a human that moves the needle for our society?” said filmmaker Ian Bonhote, who made the documentary with Peter Ettedgui. “And Chris has done both things.”
“Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” will open in theaters on Friday, Oct. 11.
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