As we all know, professional communication can feel somewhat formulaic at times — as though there’s a set of acceptable responses for every question we are asked.
That’s why coming up with the perfect reply to a coworker’s “How are you doing?” can momentarily mystify even the most sociable among us.
Should you take the question as a basic greeting and respond accordingly?
Conversely, should you take it as a conversation starter, and deliver a more personal response?
Should you answer honestly even if you’re not doing so well?
We’re about to get to the bottom of these questions and more.
But first, let’s see a roundup of the best ways to answer “How are you?” no matter who it’s coming from.
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10 Best responses to “How are you?” you can use any time
When someone from work asks, “How are you?”, your answer will typically depend on multiple factors, including:
- Your level of closeness with the person in question,
- The reason you’re meeting, and even
- Who else is in attendance.
However, the responses listed below are ones you can use any time regardless of the context.
“I’m doing well, thanks for asking. And yourself?”
“I’m doing great, thank you. How have you been?”
“Thanks for asking, can’t complain. And you?”
“Very well, thank you! How are you?”
“I’m doing alright. What about you?”
“So far, so good! What about you?”
“I’m pretty well. How are you?”
“Not bad, how about you?”
“I’m fine, how about you?”
“Good, and you?”
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How to respond to “How are you?” professionally
Even though the “how are you” answers we have already provided should be suitable for most occasions, you might want to change your response to this question based on who you’re talking to.
With that in mind, let’s talk about how to answer a “How are you?” question when it’s coming from:
- Your boss,
- Your coworker,
- A client, or even
- A job interviewer.
How to respond to a “How are you?” from your boss
One thing to keep in mind when answering this question in a professional environment is that most people who ask won’t want to hear a real answer.
As Erin Christie, Ph.D., Assistant Teaching Professor of Communication at Rutgers School of Communication and Information, told us, people generally use this question as more of a greeting than an information-seeking mission:
“It is important to note that in a professional setting the question ‘How are you?’ is often coming from a place of politeness in the form of a greeting. Therefore, the question, in most cases, doesn’t warrant a detailed and specific personal response.”
Then again, a boss might also ask the question to check in with you and find out more about how your work is going.
In that case, it would be in your best interest to respond transparently, as a communications and marketing strategist, Jordan Grenadier Murphy, advises:
“If you’re being asked how you’re doing by someone whose job it is to support you, then I think it’s best to be honest about where you’re at. In a corporate setting, you want to be transparent while still showing that whatever’s going on won’t interfere with your work. If it will, then it’s best to be proactive about what you need given the circumstances.”
So, if you want to reply to “How are you?” from your boss, you can add some details, as shown in the examples below.
“This week has been tougher than usual, but I’m managing to handle it.”
“I’ve been facing some challenges with our clients this week, but I’m working hard to fix it.”
Here’s what this exchange might look like on a team communication app, Pumble.
How to respond to a “How are you?” from your colleague
Answering a coworker’s “How are you?” should be easy enough, as it would be a simple case of lateral communication between peers, which tends to be less formal than communication with higher-ups.
As a result, your response can be more relaxed, depending on your level of closeness with the person in question.
Some of the “how are you?” answers you can give to coworkers include:
“Everything is great, like it should be. How are you?”
“I’m very well, but can’t wait for the weekend. What about you?”
“I’m pretty tired, but work is going well. How have you been?”
If you’re not usually friendly with the coworker who’s asked the question, you can assume that they’re asking either as a greeting or in hopes of receiving an update about a joint project — so, respond accordingly.
How to respond to a “How are you?” from clients
When communicating with clients and other third parties, we tend to opt for a more formal way of speaking.
So, when formulating your “how are you?” reply, you’ll want to keep it brief and formal, as in the examples below.
“I’m very well, thank you! How are you?”
“I’m doing well. And yourself?”
“I’m doing great, thank you for asking. How have you been?”
You can also make a reference to an event you’ll both be attending in the near future, as suggested by Mary Marnell, the Managing Partner at a web development agency:
“To a client, you could say something like: ‘Great, thanks! Looking forward to our meeting today. How’s your week going?’”
How to respond to a “How are you?” at a job interview
Job interviews are one of the rare occasions where the question “How are you?” is frequently used as an icebreaker question, as Erin Christie notes:
“In some work-related situations, answering does allow one to provide information that can be a conversation starter. For example, a response along these lines in a job interview could be, ‘I am excited to be here and I thank you for your time.’”
Other responses that might be suitable for a job interview include the following.
“I’m fantastic, how are you?”
“Very well, thank you for asking. How are you today?”
“I’m feeling a little nervous, but I’m happy to be a step closer to working in your company.”
In any case, the interviewers may use this question to gain some insights into your personality, which may affect your chances of getting hired.
For example, if you’re interviewing for a sales position and you give a curt reply to a “How are you?”, the interviewers may suspect that you’re not exactly a people person, and thus not fit for the position in question.
Alternatively, if you’re interviewing for a position that requires you to work well with others, and you don’t remember to ask how the interviewers are doing, they may not see you as a team player.
Even though these considerations shouldn’t be more important than your resume, they can still affect your chances of getting the job if it comes down to you and a candidate with a similar skill set.
So, tread carefully!
How to respond to “How are you?” when you’re not OK
Everybody has those days when nothing seems to be going right. At that point, hearing someone ask you how you’re doing can really open the flood gates to all sorts of information dumping.
So, what are the best ways to answer “How are you?” in those situations? Should you brush the question off, lie, or tell the truth? If you do want to go for the latter, how truthful should you be, exactly?
Well, according to Erin Christie, it’s still best to keep the details to yourself:
“Keep in mind, when ‘How are you?’ is utilized as a greeting — particularly in the workplace — disclosing personal details won’t benefit you. Always remember to think of context. An appropriate workplace response to this question is honest, simple, and lacking specific details — along the lines of ‘I am not doing as well as I would like to, but I am hanging in there today.’”
Depending on the reason behind your poor mood, you can also use one of the following responses.
“I’m not going to lie, I don’t feel very good.”
“I’m struggling a bit.”
“I’m not doing very well.”
“It’s been a tough week.”
“I’m not having an easy time at this moment.”
“I’m feeling a bit under the weather.”
Mary Marnell also added that humor can help soften your reply:
“If you’re not feeling great, light humor or a neutral response works well to acknowledge it without oversharing.
Here are some examples:
‘Hanging in there — coffee is definitely helping!’
‘It’s been a long day, but I’ll survive!’
‘I think I’ll be able to sit up and take nourishment,’ as my grandfather used to say — an old-school way of saying, ‘I’m alive, but just barely.’”
Funny and creative responses to “How are you?”
If you want to showcase your personality with your reply to a “How are you?” from a coworker, there are plenty of other hilarious ways to respond to the question.
So, if you’re looking for funny and creative ways to answer “How are you?” or “How are you doing?”, try one of the following suggestions.
When you’re feeling fairly well, you can answer the question with:
“Medium well.”
“Good enough!”
“Better than I deserve.”
“Not bad for a human.”
“Living the sweet life.”
“Like I just won the lottery!”
“If I had a tail, I would wag it!”
“Happy as a kid lost in a candy store.”
“Living the dream. Please don’t wake me up.”
“I am better on the inside than I look on the outside.”
If you’re neither here nor there, try saying:
“God only knows!”
“Under renovation.”
“Compared to who?”
“Existing, thank you. And you?”
“I need more direction. Physically, mentally, spiritually.”
If you’re doing worse than you’d like to, you can say:
“Partly cloudy.”
“Looking for a miracle.”
“Next question, please.”
“Mentally at the beach.”
“Pretty crappy, but what can you do?”
And, if your company doesn’t frown on sarcasm, you could even use the following responses:
“I’m surviving on coffee and sarcasm.”
“Looking for a fridge to freeze my brain.”
“How much will you pay me if I tell you?”
“Can’t complain. I have tried, but no one listens.”
5 tips for formulating a better “How are you doing?” reply
If you want to be able to come up with effortless responses to “How are you?” from a coworker or a boss, just follow these foolproof tips.
Tip #1: Have a positive tone
When it comes to answering the question “How are you?” in a professional environment, it’s best to err on the side of caution and keep things positive.
As Erin Christie noted, though authenticity is important, staying positive is a good way to keep things simple:
“Authenticity is important, [so it’s best to] respond in a good natured, honest, and simple way. As an example, a response of simplicity, such as ‘well,’ ‘fine,’ and returning the greeting with ‘how are you?’ is appropriate in a workplace.”
Even if you’re having a bad day and you can’t bring yourself to lie, you can always share some of that burden in a humorous way, by using one of the funny responses we’ve listed above.
That should allow you to leave the conversation on a positive note, at least.
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Tip #2: Say “Thank you”
The most basic way to reply to “How are you?” in a professional setting would be to say something along the lines of:
“Very well, thanks for asking. And you?”
As we can see, this standard answer includes a brief positive response, followed by a show of gratitude, and a reciprocation of the original question.
Even though a show of gratitude may not always be necessary, saying “thank you” is a great way to show your appreciation for the people at work who care about your wellbeing enough to ask how you’re doing.
Tip #3: Ask how the other person is feeling
Going back to that formulaic reply to “How are you?”, we can see that asking the other person how they’re doing is another common thing to add to one’s response.
You can incorporate this tip into your answer by finishing it off with a:
“And how are things going on your end?”
“And how have you been?”
“What about you?”
“And you?”
Reciprocating in this way may even prompt the other person to share some of their concerns, giving you the opportunity to offer them support.
Here’s what that exchange might look like on Pumble.
Tip #4: Keep it brief
Above all, you should always try to keep your answer to the question “How are you?” short and to the point.
That should help you avoid oversharing, if nothing else.
Still, if you believe the other person is using the question as a conversation starter, you can use it as a jumping off point to introduce another topic by saying:
“I’m great, thanks for asking. That coffee really hit the spot!”
“Pretty good, thanks! Is it weird that I’m kind of excited for this meeting?”
“I’m doing so well, thanks for asking! The sun is shining, the birds are singing. What more can you ask for?”
Then again, if you’re not a fan of small talk, you can just offer a brief response and pass the question back to them in hopes that they’ll carry on the conversation.
Optional tip #5: Get personal
Even though many people would advise you to keep your personal and work life disconnected from each other, asking you to separate the two entirely would be a stretch, to say the least.
So, if you’d still like to form genuine human connections with the people you work with, feel free to let yourself get a bit personal when formulating your response to a coworker’s “How are you?”, as Mary Marnell recommends:
“Even though we Americans tend to reply to this question like parrots — defaulting to the standard ‘Good, how are you?’ — I like to treat it as a bid for connection and offer a little personal detail. It makes the interaction more natural and engaging. Then, always ask about them too.
For example: ‘I’m good! Had a great weekend — finally got outside for a hike. How about you?’
This keeps the conversation open without feeling robotic or overly formal.”
How to answer variations of “How are you?”
As we have demonstrated in some of our examples, asking “How are you?” isn’t the only way someone might inquire about your general wellbeing in a professional environment.
Variations to this question include, among others:
“How are you doing?”
“What did you do today?”
“How are you keeping?”
“How’s life treating you?”
Having said that, let’s see how your response might vary based on the wording of the question.
Variation #1: “How have you been?”
If someone at work asks you how you’ve been, you could offer them the stock answer of: “Pretty well, and you?”
However, this version of the question also implies some level of familiarity between you and the person who’s asking, so you can also expand on the answer to whatever degree you’re comfortable with.
“I’ve been working a lot since we met last time. But, I can’t complain. What about you?”
“I’ve been super busy. Can’t wait for vacation.”
“I’ve been pretty well!”
Variation #2: “How’s it going?”
Unlike the previous variation of “How are you?”, which focuses on the past, this one is looking to find out your current state of mind.
If you don’t want to reveal too much information, you can respond with a simple:
“It’s going very well.”
Once again, you can expand your answer by including details:
“Swimmingly! Just sent in that report I worked on last week. On top of the world.”
Variation #3: “What’s up?” or “What’s new?”
Since this is a more casual way to ask “How are you?”, we can assume that this question is coming from a coworker you’re fairly close with.
If that’s the case, feel free to keep your answer just as relaxed, by saying:
“Nothing much.”
“Just the usual.”
“Just finished working on this task.”
If you’re in the mood to chat some more, this would be the perfect time to ask your coworker a follow-up question, as seen in the example below.
Keep the conversation flowing with Pumble
The question “How are you?” serves as both a greeting and a conversation starter, which is definitely something you need to consider before replying to it.
Depending on the situation and the person who asked you the question, you can respond in a multitude of manners, as demonstrated above. And, thanks to Pumble, an employee communication app, you can also respond in many different ways, by:
- Replying to a direct message with your own message,
- Creating a thread conversation, to keep your chat clutter-free,
- Sending a voice message, if you’re too busy to type everything out (or simply have too much to say), and, of course,
- Starting an audio or a video call with the person.
Of course, before picking one of these Pumble features, consider the factors we’ve mentioned above, as not every manner of responding is suitable for every person and situation.
Transform your professional communication — try Pumble today!
