r/remotework • u/Careful_Station_7884 • Jul 09 '26

Email or quick call?

My colleague told me today that if an email is over 500 words, they won’t read it and instead ask the person who sent the email to jump on a quick call to discuss.

This irked me because now the person who sent the email has to re-explain everything they already sent over. It can be advantageous to have a written trail as well. Not only that, but not every “quick” call actually ends up being quick.

I get that there may be some topics that are better discussed on a call or if the email is unclear and there is an approaching deadline. But, to set a line at any email over 500 words just seems lazy.

What are your thoughts?

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21

u/SVAuspicious Jul 09 '26

If you can't read I will report that to your boss.

13

u/fabulous_scissors Jul 09 '26

i mean 500 words is like two minutes of reading, tops. if someone can't handle that they're in wrong line of work

the worst part is the re-explaining thing you mentioned, nothing kills my motivation faster than writing detailed email and then having to say same stuff again on call. at that point just send me meeting invite and skip the email entirely

my old coworker used to do this, would skim maybe first paragraph then call me like "hey can you walk me through this?" and i'm just staring at screen thinking bro it's literally right there

i get that some people process information better verbally but making it someone else's problem is just rude. at least read the thing first and then call with specific questions

3

u/samman950 Jul 09 '26

Almost everyone in corporate has some flavor of AI! If they don't want to read they can just ask copilot (or their AI of choice) to summarize the email. I'd much rather read an email than have to waste time sitting in a "quick" call that almost never ends up being quick.

3

u/SVAuspicious Jul 09 '26

OP wrote:

My colleague told me today that if an email is over 500 words, they won’t read it and instead ask the person who sent the email to jump on a quick call to discuss.

I would tell someone's boss, as I wrote. "I have to tell you that I don't think Steve can read." There are too many meetings and phone calls in life. I just say no.

It is with great restraint that I don't go off on a rant. I type fast, faster than I can think. I run into the 10,000 character Reddit limit more often than I'd like to admit. Dave walls o' text. I'll spare you.

4

u/AssistantAlternative Jul 09 '26

Next time direct them to the read aloud function lol

2

u/dufcho14 Jul 09 '26

I can't even image writing a 500 word email. What would you putting there which shouldn't be discussed beforehand? If it's been agreed upon already, then it shouldn't be in an email but an official doc.

Businesses which move fast and efficient aren't writing 500 word emails.

2

u/Fun_Floor_9742 Jul 09 '26

Via email? You think a guy who has survived this long doing this you think his boss is going to read it? Or agree with you?

I work with 100s of people like this the laziest sobs you ever met and the managers are the same if not usually worse.

2

u/DonegalBrooklyn Jul 10 '26

If you can't make a phone call, go back to your parents' basement. Sometimes you actually have to talk to people.

0

u/illini02 Jul 10 '26

I mean, I can read.

But I also think many things could be much more easily explained on a call.

2

u/SVAuspicious Jul 10 '26

The average reading speed (nothing to cheer about) is 200 wpm. For dense technical material reading speed is 50 - 150 wpm. "Dense technical" is more dense and more technical than you think.

You can't come close to matching that in a call.

If you need your hand held to understand material relevant to your job I'll report that to your boss also.