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Boss told me my emails were too long and nobody reads them

My manager pulled me aside last month after I sent a 3-paragraph update about a client project. She said I was burying the lead and people just skim anyway. I started keeping every email under 5 sentences with bullet points only when needed. Now I get faster replies and less "can you clarify" follow-ups. Anyone else had to learn to be more concise?
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2 Comments
alices16
alices161mo ago
Isn't that wild how shorter emails actually get more done lol?
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brooke71
brooke711mo ago
Stick to the point, that's really the secret. I've seen people write three paragraphs when all they needed was "yes, Tuesday at 2pm works for me" and then they wonder why nobody reads their messages. Short emails force you to think about what actually needs to be said instead of just rambling. A coworker of mine used to write these long winded updates and nobody ever finished reading them, but a simple bullet list with just the facts got things moving in half the time.
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