Dear R,
Might you let the longwinded lot know that you’re trying to get more done by cutting down on the amount of email that you have to read, and that they could help you by only communicating the essentials in their messages? You might add that their cooperation could end up getting them what they want faster. Come to think of it, a similar strategy could also be unleashed on frequent forwarders. This approach includes some key elements of effective communication and stress reduction: goal identification, win-win outcome prediction, and emphasizing your concerns and needs rather than just blaming others for your troubles.
Or, you could take a less direct route and include your own auto-generated words of wisdom at the end of your emails, letting your readers know you appreciate brevity. Here are a few ideas that you can edit to make your own:
- Thank you for not pushing me over quota.
- Have you considered a Blackberry?
- con-cise adj., using as few words as possible to give the necessary information
- I prefer briefs.
- Word pollution stinks!
- It’s not the size of your e-mail that matters; it’s how you say it.
Les
2/07
PS from Les: Just came across this more refined aphorism from the 17th Century Spanish philosopher, Baltasar Gracian: “Good things, when short, are twice as good.”
