Why your emails are too long -- and how to improve

Flickr user Biscarotte

(MoneyWatch)  To paraphrase Homer Simpson (who was speaking not about email, but about beer): Email is the source of, and solution to, all of life's problems.

Certainly, the modern business world could not exist without the ability to exchange messages instantly, but email also causes all sorts of communication problems. For starters, there's way too much of it. Second, much of the email we get is too darned long. Long email creates bottlenecks in our in-boxes and often goes unread because it seems too complex.

Recently, The Management Ninja, which is written by efficiency expert Craig Jarrow, cataloged a number of reasons why emails are often too long. Many of the blog's items in the list are spot on. Here are the top reasons why your mail is too long, and what you should do to combat those problems:

You don't know exactly what you're trying to say. As the Management Ninja says so astutely, "Writing more isn't going to cover up the fact that you are lacking knowledge." I have another angle on this. Often, people write too much at the start of an email because they don't know how to phrase what's on their mind. It's a form of clearing one's throat. The solution? Read your lead-in, and if it doesn't get to the point right away, delete it. I believe in "Bottom Line Up Front" email.

• What makes emails ineffective, and even insulting
• Tame your inbox with the psychology of email
• Why email signatures are dumb

You're sending spam. Who's on your "To" and CC lines? Do all those people need to be there? If not, prune the list. Resist the temptation to send email for its own sake, especially in a corporate environment.

You're forwarding the whole thread. Scan the forwarded bit below your new message. Do you need to include the entire thread, dating all the way back to the Nixon administration? Some context might be essential, but cut as much as possible. Otherwise, it'll feel like the recipient needs to read a novel to understand the issue.

It should be more than one email. If your email is really long, take a look and see if there are multiple action items, projects or requests included within. If so, you'll probably get better traction by sending several shorter, pithier emails.

You're not self-editing. Lastly, this issue is a superset of all the others. Don't just write and click "send." Yes, you're busy, and yes, you need to send a lot of mail. But reading, thinking about and editing your email before you send it can help you trim down your messages and make them more understandable.

What are the worst email gaffes you've sent or received? Please share your stories in the comments.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Biscarotte

[DheimReich]

I once received an email with the latest catalog of new solar equipment from a manufacturer, sent to their entire mailing list. Unfortunately, they forgot to attach the actual catalog. Someone responded and somehow, by just hitting "Reply" they responded to the entire mailing list, letting them know that there was no attachment. The fun didn't stop there. A few other people replied and the manufacturer sent the catalog back out. Well, by that time, there were several emails in everyone's inbox and they were upset about it. So, they started responding "Stop sending me these messages," and other variations along those lines; each time causing everyone on the list to get yet another email, and the frustration to escalate. About 61 emails later, I couldn't stop laughing and finally sent an email to everyone explaining that their continued complaints were prolonging their frustration and if only they'd just stop replying, then the madness would stop.

[DRuchman]

Loved the bobble-head doll and the reply-all guy stories -- we've all known them! ;-)

The issue of sending one email or multiple emails to handle multiple points is a tricky one, and I think there's no one right answer. The author wrote, "if there are multiple action items, projects or requests... you'll probably get better traction by sending several shorter, pithier emails."

That's true for some people, but not all.

I've learned that there are basically two types of people on this issue. Some appreciate three or more numbered questions or points in one email, enabling them to dispose of all related issues at one time, by clearly responding to all points in one responsive email back to the sender. The other type will focus for whatever reason -- and the reasons are multiple -- on only a fraction of the points, whether the points are visibly numbered or not.

As the sender of an email, you simply have to assess your audience. If you're writing to the former type (left brainers, accountants, engineers), organize the three questions well and include them all in the same message. If you're writing to the latter type (right brainers, creatives, artists, marketers), organize your writing differently, and send three short emails, each dedicated solely to one point.

And regardless of which type you're writing to, if you know that the person has only some very short time windows, consider breaking the longer message into three shorter ones, enabling the recipient of your messages to respond to each of the three as his time allows.

[johnsondnl]

Good article, good content. Would have enjoyed it a lot more if this CBS "News" Moneywatch article didn't appear next to a "Faces of Meth" advertisement. I know it gets clicks which is why it's there but that type of tabloid infotainment is such a turnoff to me personally and damages the brands credibility for me. If I wanted to look at before and after pics of walking corpses I wouldn't go to a business and finance web site for my information.

[Bojax39]

And to paraphrase Winston Churchill, (who was speaking of speeches, not email): A good email should be like a woman's skirt: long enough to cover the subject and short enough to create interest.

Still, I've found it helps if you can read email of any length without the need to move your lips. :-)

[JasonChristensen100]

As a person who gets hundreds of emails a day and sends quite a few too, I use these strategies frequently! For more email tips, feel free to stop by my blog http://jasonchristensen.wordpress.com/ and type "email" in the search box located in the upper right corner. I hope you can pick up a few additional tips to help you become more productive.

[mattjd33]

Self-editing. Thank you!

As Mark Twain once quipped, "Please excuse the length of this letter, as I did not have the time to make it shorter."

[juanricardo65]

Who decides what's considered a long email? The reader? Would that be the same reader that wastes the author's time asking questions that were addressed in the "long" email? Would that also be the same short-attention-spanned reader who seems to find time for non-work-related blogs, surfing YouTube, or discussing the previous nights sporting event to the nth degree?

Like it or not, some emails just have to be long and if the author thinks you need to know what's in it, then put your man pants on and read it!

Sincerely,

Writer of sometimes long emails

[AlBlack52]

Excellent point: if the topic is technical or complex, sometimes you need to understand the detail to make an informed decision. For instance you could have replied with a one-word comment: "********!" Instead you made the point that one long email saves dozens of follow-up emails later, that light-weights complaining that "Long messages are a time-suck" usually spend way too much time on non-work related activities. You are paid to work, and sometimes that means reading, comprehending and acting on emailed instructions.

I do agree that an email should have only one topic: too many people try to cover off two or three seperate issues in one email; that usually means they won't get a reply to at least one of them: the reader has changed gears to deal with the last issue, forcing earlier ones out of their consciousness. One topic, one email, one reply, simple!

[twmat311]

I recall a co-worker in a 900+ person building addressing everyone (reply-all to a corporate email) that his desk bobble-head doll was missing / stolen, and there would be consequences.

One consequence was that he had addressed his manager, who saw that he became an ex-employee.

[rufustel]

I had a former colleague who routinely committed the cardinal sin of replying to all, to hundreds of people in the email chain, with such "informative" (and unnecessary) messages as, "Good one!," "Me, too," and "My wife is under the weather and so I can't attend." I once got so tired of these replies that I didn't need that I wrote back to him, nicely noting that he mistakenly had pressed the "Reply to all" button. He candidly wrote back that he hadn't pressed that button by accident. Seemingly, he thought that reminding everyone that he existed was more important than the clog and drain that his uninformative messages continually caused.