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Pro tip: My old manager told me to stop giving status updates and start giving headlines first
She pulled me aside after a meeting in March and said "I had to wait 4 minutes to hear whether the project was on track, flip that order and you'll save everyone time," so now I open with one sentence on where things stand and the details only if someone asks, and honestly it changed how people listen to me. Anyone else get one piece of feedback that rewired how they talk at work?
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kevin_adams3d ago
Oh man, yes! My director told me something similar years ago and it stuck with me forever. She said she should be able to read just the first line of any email I send and know exactly what I need from her. So now I write my emails backwards, I figure out the ask or the main point first and put that right at the top. Then I add the background stuff below for anyone who wants it (which is usually nobody, ha). The funny part is I didn't believe her at first, I thought all the context was important. But once I started doing it, people replied way faster and meetings got shorter because nobody was sitting there trying to guess what I actually wanted. It's honestly the one piece of work advice I'd pass on to anyone.
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