Sample Condolence Letter
Respectfully Sending Sympathy

Sample condolence letter template introduction:

Managers need to afford employees the time necessary to grasp the total weight of their loss and to allow the employee room to deal with their emotions.

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In preparation, you can utilize our sample condolence letter template. Keep the following tips in mind as you prepare to express your sympathies for your employee, friend or family member who has just recently suffered a loss:

• If applicable, briefly describe how you admired and respected the deceased.
• Provide a sentence or two about the unique strengths, talents and achievements of the deceased.
• Be sure to balance your words between the professional and more formal tone of a condolence letter and its very personal nature.
• Be respectful of the mourner's emotionally state. He is probably quite drained emotionally, so it's important to keep your letter brief.
• Offer your willingness to assist the mourner, and make sure you are prepared to answer the call should a specific need arise.
• Given you are representative of your organization, be careful not to delve too deeply into religious statements that might not be perceived by all parties in way you mean. Use common sense and good judgment here.
• Treat the person in the way you would hope to be treated if the roles were reversed. Consider what would mean the most to you if the roles were reversed.

The personal encouragement from an employer or team leader at a time when the employee is dealing with a difficult situation can be a major opportunity to connect and build trust with that employee. Words of support and understanding are extremely powerful in these types of circumstances.

A sympathy card or letter of condolence provides the employee with something concrete that they can share and keep as a reminder of all those who where there to support them during their time of personal crisis.

Managers are encouraged to take a few extra moments to hand write their note. Handwritten notes are always appropriate in times of sorrow and sadness. Hand writing the note maintains a personal touch to the sympathy card or letter of condolence.

We encourage you to make use of our easy reference sample condolence letter template.

Receive your free sample condolence letter template, PLUS many more business letter templates by requesting our Business Letter Writing Tool. Remember that you only need to download once. All of the various business letter templates are included in a single pdf file for your convenience.

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We're constantly on the lookout for another sample condolence letter template and/or other leadership tools and resources that we can recommend to our readers. Share your own helpful hints and tips here.

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