This article desperately needs a TL;DR.
She started writing shorter and more concise emails (but, alas, not shorter and more concise articles) and liked it.
I tried emailing like a CEO and it made my life better
41–50 of 152 posts
Re: I tried emailing like a CEO and it made my life better
#42Rules for good emails 1. Keep the message as short as necessary but no shorter. 2. Put the most important information at the top of the message. 3. If it email is for an ask, call out from who you need the response and put it at the top of the message. 4. If you need to send a long email with many details, put the most important information at the top (ie. what the reader needs to know) and then fill in the body with…
For #1, what I have found works best is to nix the huge amount of text you'd otherwise write in the email and put it in a link. A document maybe, or better yet a beautiful portal that works on desktop and mobile. That way the email is short AND the link can be reshared!
I had a problem where we did exactly that, "please read the document at this link because ". Check the logs, person had not even clicked on it. Asked them about why they had not read the document mentioned in email, and proceeded to show their phone's email app, said "Yes, I read it, see here, the message is marked read in my email."
Re: I tried emailing like a CEO and it made my life better
#43Rules for good emails 1. Keep the message as short as necessary but no shorter. 2. Put the most important information at the top of the message. 3. If it email is for an ask, call out from who you need the response and put it at the top of the message. 4. If you need to send a long email with many details, put the most important information at the top (ie. what the reader needs to know) and then fill in the body with…
I think you missed a key point in your example which you demonstrated but didn’t explain. The last sentence of the email should be an action for the reader. Don’t make them scroll back up.
Re: I tried emailing like a CEO and it made my life better
#44As a manager or senior a huge part of your job is communication and distributing information, and email is one of, if not, THE core method of doing this. The author has decided to provide poor communication because she can’t handle her inbox. One word replies can be extremely misleading and will cost her more time overall than reading and replying to her emails properly. I would be fuming if I was her boss or worked…
> provide poor communication I see that as efficient communication. No BS
It's only efficient if it answers everything that's needed by the other party. Otherwise you've started an unnecessary back-and-forth when you could you have been short but thorough the first time.
Re: I tried emailing like a CEO and it made my life better
#45Rules for good emails 1. Keep the message as short as necessary but no shorter. 2. Put the most important information at the top of the message. 3. If it email is for an ask, call out from who you need the response and put it at the top of the message. 4. If you need to send a long email with many details, put the most important information at the top (ie. what the reader needs to know) and then fill in the body with…
I think you missed a key point in your example which you demonstrated but didn’t explain. The last sentence of the email should be an action for the reader. Don’t make them scroll back up.
I'm abominable with conclusions in emails and personally feel like they are a waste (majority of the time). I know it's something I should probably be better at, but often I just finish my thought(s) and hit send.
Re: I tried emailing like a CEO and it made my life better
#46Rules for good emails 1. Keep the message as short as necessary but no shorter. 2. Put the most important information at the top of the message. 3. If it email is for an ask, call out from who you need the response and put it at the top of the message. 4. If you need to send a long email with many details, put the most important information at the top (ie. what the reader needs to know) and then fill in the body with…
Also, for #3, put in the when you need a response by so people know the urgency.
Re: I tried emailing like a CEO and it made my life better
#47What I have realized is some people are just naturally good at this. They are able to get to the nub of the issue, anticipate a pointless back and forth and get things done. It's not simply an issue of length, its communication and I guess maturity, experience and savvy. Of course if you already have authority then it's no longer a communication thing but a power thing, as things will anyway get done and some are ine…
Also when you're the boss you can reply however you want and people will make/take the time to figure out the missing details, because they have to.
Try those short replies to your boss for a while and see how it goes. ;-)
Re: I tried emailing like a CEO and it made my life better
#48As a manager or senior a huge part of your job is communication and distributing information, and email is one of, if not, THE core method of doing this. The author has decided to provide poor communication because she can’t handle her inbox. One word replies can be extremely misleading and will cost her more time overall than reading and replying to her emails properly. I would be fuming if I was her boss or worked…
> The author has decided to provide poor communication
On the contrary! The author has decided to provide efficient, immediate, communication, instead of vaguely planning to send a more detailed reply later if she maybe gets around to it.
If everybody treated email this way it would be 100x more efficient. If her reply doesn't contain the info you need, just reply back asking for the info you need, and she'll reply within minutes.
Re: I tried emailing like a CEO and it made my life better
#49The issue with standardizing on two word replies is that people will eventually stop writing you in the first place. This can feel good, but it's usually a bad sign, whether you're an IC or a manager.
She's not saying "don't tell people what they need to know", she's saying "don't agonise over sending the perfect email, just give them the information they need".
Re: I tried emailing like a CEO and it made my life better
#50Rules for good emails 1. Keep the message as short as necessary but no shorter. 2. Put the most important information at the top of the message. 3. If it email is for an ask, call out from who you need the response and put it at the top of the message. 4. If you need to send a long email with many details, put the most important information at the top (ie. what the reader needs to know) and then fill in the body with…
For #1, what I have found works best is to nix the huge amount of text you'd otherwise write in the email and put it in a link. A document maybe, or better yet a beautiful portal that works on desktop and mobile. That way the email is short AND the link can be reshared!
That's a terrific idea, if that kind of CMS-ish system is available to you or within your organization. Unfortunately I've never been exposed to or have much experience with something like that : (