Description:
My distributed team frequently misses deadlines or falls into long meetings because emails are long, vague, or lack a clear ask. I want to run a low-friction program to improve written communication: teach simple templates, run short practice sessions, give feedback, and measure impact – without policing people’s inboxes.
9 Answers
I once stayed up until 3am rewriting an email about a launch while drinking terrible hotel coffee and accidentally sent the five-paragraph draft to the whole company instead of my teammate. I remember the sinking feeling and how everyone politely answered with questions that could have been avoided. I also confess I have a folder of cringe-sent emails I use as teaching fodder.
My practical fix is low-friction and not about badges. Add a tiny mandatory Decision/Action/Owner/Due header to the compose window via a canned response or template plug-in so every message starts with one line that must be filled. Pair that with weekly 10 minute peer clinics where one volunteer brings a draft and the team rewrites it live. Have managers model this habit in their own mail and give anonymous, example-based feedback. Measure adoption rate of the header and count threads that reach a decision without follow-up meetings. Small changes, visible modeling, and public practice beat policing every inbox
Your team’s email chaos sounds all too familiar. I remember back when I first joined this one company and every inbox was like a novel and every meeting was stretching out like gum. I tried the usual “Hey guys, can we keep it short?” approach and oh boy, did that blow up in my face. It wasn’t until I started sharing real examples of “email bloopers” from our own team (think the kind that leads to reruns of the same questions and wasted time) that folks started to actually listen.
Instead of handing out templates upfront, try turning it into a story-driven workshop where people bring their own emails and they all rewrite 'em live, kinda like improv comedy but for emails. It breaks the ice, shows how easy it can be to tighten up writing, and gives everyone immediate feedback without feeling like Big Brother is scanning their messages. Also sneaky but effective is encouraging a habit of adding a TL;DR line at the bottom summarizing exactly what needs to be done or decided. It’s weirdly empowering because it helps readers know there’s a clear goal without digging through the fluff.
That way, it doesn’t feel like policing or template-shoving but more like a fun team exercise that just happens to make work smoother. Trust me, no one misses deadlines when they know exactly what’s up!Love this idea. Try gamifying concision by awarding a Decision Badge whenever someone rewrites a long email into one-line decision plus two-line context. Run weekly five minute rewrite sprints with a timer and a pizza voucher. It might feel silly but people change with play
- Owen Sanders: Interesting approach. Just clarify if the "Decision Badge" is digital or physical to ensure consistent motivation. Also, how do you handle complex emails that can’t be condensed easily?
- Eleanor Harris: Great points, Owen! The Decision Badge can be either digital—like a badge in your team chat—or a simple sticker you put on a board, whatever fits your culture best. For complex emails, focus on highlighting the key decision or next step upfront, even if the full context is longer. The goal is to train the habit of leading with the decision whenever possible.
Emails getting lost in the abyss of vague prose? Sounds like a classic case of TL;DR syndrome! What if you flipped the script and encouraged your team to write emails like they're texting a friend—snappy, clear, and with a punchline?
Maybe introduce a fun challenge: “Can you make your email fit into one tweet?” It’s low-friction and might spark some creativity without feeling like a lecture. By the way, are you thinking about cutting down meetings too or just emails? Because those two sometimes conspire against us all!- Anonymous: Love the tweet challenge idea! Turning emails into mini-messages could definitely boost clarity. But, quick question: would making emails too casual risk missing key details? Just wondering!
- A. T.: Great point! The key is balancing brevity with clarity—making emails concise but still including all essential info. The “tweet” challenge is more about trimming fluff and focusing on the main decision or action, not cutting out important details. You can always follow up with supporting info if needed, but starting with a clear, punchy message helps everyone get on the same page faster.
To create an MVP for concise, decision-oriented emails, start with a user story: "As a team member, I want to quickly understand what is asked of me so I can act without delay." Your backlog could include building a lightweight email checklist or micro-training that fits into existing workflows. Instead of templates or policing inboxes, focus on empowering writers by showing the impact of clarity through data—like reduced follow-up threads or meeting times. A trade-off is balancing brevity with enough context to avoid confusion; encourage the "one-sentence ask plus one-sentence why" approach. Next best action: pilot this checklist in one team and measure average email response time improvement as your success metric.
Improving email clarity is like tuning a radio signal—you want to reduce static so everyone hears the message clearly. Instead of focusing only on templates, what if you coached your team to visualize each email as a mini project proposal? They’d need to outline the problem, proposed action, and expected result in quick succession. Also, how do you plan to handle situations where urgency conflicts with brevity? Is there a playbook for prioritizing rapid responses over concise writing?
You’re onto something huge by focusing on concise, decision-driven emails—it's like the secret sauce for team efficiency. Sometimes, it helps to flip the perspective: what if you treated email writing as a kind of muscle-building exercise? Brief daily prompts or challenges could be shared, where folks summarize complex ideas in just two sentences, right before regular meetings. It’s low-key but builds habits over time without feeling like “training.” When people get their own wins from clearer emails—faster responses, fewer follow-ups—the culture shifts naturally. It's those tiny nudges that spark the real paradigm shift!
- M. J.: Yesss!!! 💥 Treating email skills like workouts is SUCH a vibe 🙌 Daily mini-challenges? Genius for habit-building!!! 🔥🔥🔥
Cut the fluff now. Set a hard rule: every email must end with one clear decision or next step and a due date, no exceptions. Run a mandatory 30-minute kickoff training within this week to explain why vague emails cost time and money. Follow up by spotlighting one well-crafted email weekly in your team meeting as an example. If people keep ignoring it after two weeks, start limiting who they can copy on emails until they improve. No clarity means no cc’ing—simple accountability drives change fast.
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