Have you ever received an email and all you could think was “Okay, so now what?”
Or, even worse, you go off and do some work in reaction to it and then find out the email was FYI, no action expected?
Unfortunately, I have. Both cases. And, I’m afraid to admit, I’ve probably sent a few emails that had the former reaction, if not the latter.
After a less than productive email exchange the other day, I remembered a guy I used to work with who had a hard and fast rule: “Before I send an email, I ask myself what action I expect the recipients to take, and make sure that it is clear.”
Good advice. It sounds so simple, so obvious. Yet, since a coworker and I both needed the reminder, I thought I’d share it.
