Say less in your emails, get more replies (2017) • Hacker News Board

Re: Say less in your emails, get more replies (2017)

#11

Post by 0xmutt » Thu, Aug 01, 2024, 3:44 PM UTC

Bluestein wrote: post #10

0xmutt wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With regards to Slack or other asynchronous communication methods, its generally a mixed bag in my experience. Folks still tend to target some and not all of the points. Which then leads to more follow-ups. I wonder if this has to do with other interruptions on Slack (or other mediums) occurring at the same time. Pretty common to be responding to something only to be interrupted by something else that pulls your atte…

(It really really might come down to people not addressing all points due to carelessness, -and- it being easier to "compete" (corral?) attention, when in a meeting.-

Entirely possible! I would not be surprised if that is the case. That seems most likely when you boil down the context of the (likely) situation.

Re: Say less in your emails, get more replies (2017)

#12

Post by jlmcgraw » Thu, Aug 01, 2024, 3:44 PM UTC

A style I picked up from a relative, who is a lawyer, is to make bullet points with minimal other fluff:

  Addressee,
   - Do this
   - Then that
   - Be sure to be aware of this

I found it impersonal at first, but it's very effective in calling out the things that need attention

Re: Say less in your emails, get more replies (2017)

#13

Post by happytoexplain » Thu, Aug 01, 2024, 3:56 PM UTC

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #2

People are notorious for not reading or responding to email. Even business email, about topics vital to their job. If a reply is needed, they'll address either the first or last point raised. Never, ever all the points. Never completely. No wonder people tend to call so many meetings. They can corner colleagues, get a complete, coherent response to complex issues. I wonder if Slack is any better? Do folks respond bet…

In my experience, the same is true regardless of medium. For that reason, I try to always form questions clearly (one question-marked sentence in the email, at the end if possible - no repeating the question in different words or dithering), and I give only one question. I write the rest down, but only deliver each after the previous has been answered.

If I ask you more than one question at a time, or give you the freedom to respond outside the framework of a question-answer pair, it means I respect your ability to communicate.

Re: Say less in your emails, get more replies (2017)

#14

Post by bbatha » Thu, Aug 01, 2024, 4:00 PM UTC

jlmcgraw wrote: post #12

A style I picked up from a relative, who is a lawyer, is to make bullet points with minimal other fluff: Addressee, - Do this - Then that - Be sure to be aware of this I found it impersonal at first, but it's very effective in calling out the things that need attention

Numbers or letters are better than plain bullets so its obvious to the responder when they quote reply that they skipped from 1 to 4.

Re: Say less in your emails, get more replies (2017)

#15

Post by gmuslera » Thu, Aug 01, 2024, 4:11 PM UTC

Notice the asymmetries in work, you send an automated mail with zero load for you, and, interested or not, the user should have to read all your mail, and decide that there is even more work to do if he wants to reply. You have minimum effort in one side, maximum in the paying other. With a short mail at least the reading work is not so bad, but you still have the analysis one.

But giving out information that should matter to your particular client, like personalized info on how things are for his user (like how his account is using the service provided, and some hints on how to improve on that with new offerings) may deserve some more thought, even if that report/mail was generated by an script. Give more effort to your side. Even if is longer or require more work for the end user.

Re: Say less in your emails, get more replies (2017)

#16

Post by tivert » Thu, Aug 01, 2024, 4:13 PM UTC

[Let's see if this works]

Hi

Re: Say less in your emails, get more replies (2017)

#17

Post by amelius » Thu, Aug 01, 2024, 4:29 PM UTC

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #2

People are notorious for not reading or responding to email. Even business email, about topics vital to their job. If a reply is needed, they'll address either the first or last point raised. Never, ever all the points. Never completely. No wonder people tend to call so many meetings. They can corner colleagues, get a complete, coherent response to complex issues. I wonder if Slack is any better? Do folks respond bet…

"Hi, this is ChatGPT, and I noticed that in this reply you did not address all the points raised by the sender of the email."

Re: Say less in your emails, get more replies (2017)

#18

Post by nottorp » Thu, Aug 01, 2024, 4:34 PM UTC

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #2

People are notorious for not reading or responding to email. Even business email, about topics vital to their job. If a reply is needed, they'll address either the first or last point raised. Never, ever all the points. Never completely. No wonder people tend to call so many meetings. They can corner colleagues, get a complete, coherent response to complex issues. I wonder if Slack is any better? Do folks respond bet…

> If a reply is needed, they'll address either the first or last point raised. Never, ever all the points. Never completely.

Use numbered short topics instead of a wall of text, even if they're all in the same email. It usually gets me a lot more answers than something more prose like.

> I wonder if Slack is any better? Do folks respond better to one question at a time?

Post numbered short topics :)

Re: Say less in your emails, get more replies (2017)

#19

Post by SoftTalker » Thu, Aug 01, 2024, 4:35 PM UTC

haswell wrote: post #8

This is good advice for all types of email; especially work email. When an email really does need lots of detail, I’ve made a habit of always including a BLUF, or “bottom line up front” - kind of like a TL;DR but more focused on identifying the key things I want the reader to know if that’s the only paragraph they read. I also try to structure and label my emails to make it obvious which parts are “please read all of…

I find an explicitly identified "BLUF" section to be annoying. I can read. If you want to put the most important information or request up front, just do that.

Re: Say less in your emails, get more replies (2017)

#20

Post by nottorp » Thu, Aug 01, 2024, 4:37 PM UTC

0xmutt wrote: post #6

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #2

People are notorious for not reading or responding to email. Even business email, about topics vital to their job. If a reply is needed, they'll address either the first or last point raised. Never, ever all the points. Never completely. No wonder people tend to call so many meetings. They can corner colleagues, get a complete, coherent response to complex issues. I wonder if Slack is any better? Do folks respond bet…

With regards to Slack or other asynchronous communication methods, its generally a mixed bag in my experience. Folks still tend to target some and not all of the points. Which then leads to more follow-ups. I wonder if this has to do with other interruptions on Slack (or other mediums) occurring at the same time. Pretty common to be responding to something only to be interrupted by something else that pulls your atte…

It's sync vs async. Slack won't help if you let it spam you with notifications for every OH SO URGENT message.

Make a habit to ignore it and batch answer now and then, between tasks not during tasks. Then teach everyone else in the org to do the same if they don't get the hint.