Think back to when you were in summer camp during mail call. There was nothing so anticipated as Mom mailing in a small care package or a fat envelope filled with you didn’t even know what. Mystery surrounds these items because they’re from the people we know best. And when we don’t know them the best, when they arrive from bosses or coworkers, they’re unexpected surprises.

It’s a lot like being a kid on Christmas morning. You rip it open, not knowing what to find inside, and may even read the message aloud to your yourself or those close by. These personal touches wind up holding a deeper meaning than any of us may know. You’ll hang onto it for well past your last day on the job, tuck it into your wallet to read on a more difficult day, pass it around to family members and friends, and even just privately pull it out from time to time at work. Pen leaves indentations you can feel.

Try as hard as you like, but I doubt you can feel your email being sent or that you go back to a Facebook status that was “liked” a lot and reread it to yourself. There’s a real relationship being built within the pages and in between the lines of a handwritten note.

Now it’s just up to you to go and start building it.

Deborah Sweeney, Contributor, Forbes

http://www.forbes.com/sites/deborahsweeney/2012/04/24/3-ways-handwritten-notes-impact-the-workplace/2/