Have you ever noticed that people whom you email work questions to will almost always reply with answers to all, minus one, of the questions you asked?
I know you’re laughing, right? Because it’s true!
And it doesn’t have to be just work. Event if it’s a personal email to a family member or a friend, they always seem to answer one less question than you’ve asked.
It’s amazing!
(And if you haven’t noticed it yet, watch for it, or even go back in your emails and look.)
I don’t know if it’s because of our shorter attention spans these days, if our brains are actually shrinking, or what ; )
But besides being amazing, it’s also an energy and time suck for you to realize you don’t have a piece of information you need, and you have to go back to someone and ask again.
This happened to me so much, that I created a solution.
Call it the “Email Info Productivity Hack”, if you’d like:
And it’s really simple to do.
When you have more than one question you’re asking someone, always list the questions with numbers in front of them.
This is something I learned way back in my first corporate job, because we had to send detailed processing requests with multiple steps to our back office. If any of the steps were missed, it could potentially cause thousands or even millions of dollars in losses, possible legal issues, and almost certainly our jobs.
We were taught to number all the steps to make sure nothing slipped through the cracks.
It makes the list easier to read, the information (questions/action steps) easier to manage for the recipient, and the replies are more certain to have everything you need.
So, for example, you might list your questions in an email like this:
————————————————
Hi Dave,
Great work you’ve been doing on the June 14th event. I have a few questions:
1.) How many RSVP’s do we need in order to cover our costs?
2.) Have you decided the best way to track RSVP’s?
3.) Do we have an email follow up system in place for when attendees pay?
4.) When do you need the invitation copy to publish to the website?
Thanks so much!
Best,
Jason
————————————————
You see?
This makes it so much easier for Dave, Sally, or (fill in the blank with your co-worker, manager or employee) to keep track of what you’re asking and reply right below each question, so nothing is missed, and both of you can save gobs of time by not having to go back and forth, over and over.
If you’re not already doing this, try it in your next email. And teach it to your empoloyees, too. Even just a list of two questions is enough for this to be a huge time saver, and sometimes even a relationship or job saver!
Here’s to you, and those who support you, working smarter, not harder.
