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I tried emailing like a CEO and it made my life better

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Re: I tried emailing like a CEO and it made my life better

#81

Post by hota_mazi »

albertgoeswoof wrote: post #19

As 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…

> email is one of, if not, THE core method of doing this.

I've found this to be less and less true these past years with the rise of Slack.

These days, most of my email inbox searches come up empty because what I'm looking for actually happened in Slack.

Re: I tried emailing like a CEO and it made my life better

#82

Post by moioci »

account0099099 wrote: post #40

This doesn't work. I've gotten many bad reviews, because people thought I was being "curt" or "mean" because I was replying to their question with short replies. None, of my emails were intended to be mean, I just didn't see the point in fluffing up my emails, and only responded with the required information, but I guess people require the fluff or they get their feelings hurt.

What about putting something in your email signature like, "Please do not mistake the brevity of my reply for hostility. I'm just trying to save us all time."?

Re: I tried emailing like a CEO and it made my life better

#83

Post by jstanley »

albertgoeswoof wrote: post #68
jstanley wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 w…

But what if you don't know the information you need to know? Or if you're worried about looking incompetent by asking because she always sends such curt replies? Or maybe you're just hacked off that you crafted an email to try to convey a point in a clear, concise manner and she just responded with a one word reply and you have no idea whether she read it and understood it at all

They all sound like your problems, not hers.

Re: I tried emailing like a CEO and it made my life better

#84

Post by vxNsr »

turc1656 wrote: post #57

Why would a link like this be on HN? It's Buzzfeed. The same people that bring you those quizzes like "Answer these food questions and we'll tell you which Power Ranger you are". I can't take this article seriously and I'm not even sure if I'm supposed to. Although, I do have a new unread email goal. I just assumed I was the world champion. Didn't realize I was already being bested by the guy with 150k unread. That's…

Because this specific article is worth a read. You're complaint can be expanded to include the whole internet: Why would you use the internet, the same place that brings you those quizzes like "Answer these food questions and we'll tell you which Power Ranger you are."

Re: I tried emailing like a CEO and it made my life better

#85

Post by nunez »

drb311 wrote: post #30
hnrodey wrote: post #7

Rules 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…

>>Hey Jane, I need your input on how to prioritize my current work. Can you provide guidance on where I should focus? >>Bug XYZ was assigned to me and it's taking longer to complete because we have a dependency on Vendor ABC completing a change to their web service. This is impacting the commitment to my team on Feature 123 because we are near the end of our sprint. >>Lemme know. Yes

> Can you provide guidance on where I should focus?

Should be the call to action/last sentence instead of "Lemme know" (I read that as passive-aggressively asking for a follow up?

> because we have a dependency on Vendor ABC completing a change to their web service. This is impacting the commitment to my team on Feature 123 because we are near the end of our sprint.

Too many words. Saying that vendor ABC is completing a web service won't affect your CTA. Also, that last sentence is implied.

Here is how I would send it:

SUBJECT: Bug XYZ blocking sprint. Help?

BODY:

Hey, Jane. I'm assigned to bug XYZ. We're held up waiting for something from Vendor ABC; this might make us blow our sprint. Can you help me re-prioritize this?

Now, if Jane is one that prefers having everything upfront and is diligent about getting to her emails, then a longer, more detailed message makes sense. However, I usually send my emails with the intent of illiciting a follow-up response; too much information == TL;DR

Re: I tried emailing like a CEO and it made my life better

#86

Post by sailfast »

albertgoeswoof wrote: post #19

As 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…

Came here to say this. It's great if you're the boss, but did you notice that in the article he says "I just assumed I understood what Mark Cuban meant in the one word reply"

If that assumption is wrong and involves millions of dollars or hundreds of person-hours, what happens to your company? This is only good if the response CAN be brief and still be adequate.

Re: I tried emailing like a CEO and it made my life better

#87

Post by forgot-my-pw »

tekkk wrote: post #79
hnrodey wrote: post #7

Rules 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…

>Hey Jane, I need your input on how to prioritize my current work. Can you provide guidance on where I should focus? >Bug XYZ was assigned to me and it's taking longer to complete because we have a dependency on Vendor ABC completing a change to their web service. This is impacting the commitment to my team on Feature 123 because we are near the end of our sprint. >Lemme know. Pss, amateur. That's way too many words.…

> And sometimes add a smiley so they know you're not made of circuits yourself too.

That's where I always forget to do :) :( :)

Re: I tried emailing like a CEO and it made my life better

#88

Post by shadowRAMM »

I would like to add this bit to anyone attempting this:

If you are the CEO you can ask your IT team to check on emails and they jump on it pretty quick. If you don't have that ability then remember the following.

Subjects of emails trigger anti-spam. So be choice, sparse, and unique if possible with email subjects.

carry on.

Re: I tried emailing like a CEO and it made my life better

#89

Post by IncRnd »

hnrodey wrote: post #7

Rules 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…

Jane,

Vendor ABC is blocking Bug XYZ. This gates Feature 123.

How do we prioritize?

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