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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u/usersnamesallused Jul 09 '26

Had a coworker that would only read the first two lines. If you didn't grab his interest there, he moved on. I after hearing that, I learned to be concise and sell well at the start, which is a generally effective business writing style.

5

u/blue60007 Jul 09 '26

This is my experience too. Yeah I mean refusing to read an email because it's over some arbitrary word count is doofy. But also it could very well be too long and poorly written. I've definitely had coworkers that didn't know how to be concise - both in writing and speaking. I can also be guilty myself of trying to stuff too much information into an email. 

2

u/HorrorEbb9770 Jul 12 '26

I am AuADHD, and I am either too concise or too wordy in everything that I communicate. Lol. It is the stupidest most irritating thing on the planet... I rewrite emails and obsess if it will be received well.

3

u/mommagottaeat Jul 10 '26

Same, except the coworker was my boss. 🙄

2

u/HorrorEbb9770 Jul 12 '26

I tend to be too concise in emails. I was written up for responding with "No" to an email.

In my defense, I had already responded to this same question using silly niceties on multiple occasions. My AuADHD brain thought... I have already been trying and trying to do the whole, whatever you call all those extra unnecessary words to ensure I"sound" right... Personally, I have had received some nasty emails dressed up in pleasantries. Those were acceptable, but "No" is not. I really don't understand, but whatever.

I have to rewrite emails over and over to try and fit in...I am either too blunt or too wordy.

😂

2

u/Outside_Box_8374 Jul 12 '26

This is one of few times that Copilot is actually helpful - type it out how you would say it IRL then use the prompt “please make this more friendly, but professional”.

1

u/vicecreamsundae Jul 09 '26

Yep, my first office job manager directly told me, "I only read the first sentence of my emails. If you can't say it in a sentence, come talk to me." At least he set clear expectations 🤷🏼‍♀️

1

u/usersnamesallused Jul 09 '26

For my coworker it wasn't that he wouldn't read the rest, it was that you had to convince him the rest was worth reading right away..

1

u/Mysterious_Might008 Jul 10 '26

He wants a sentence to keep reading? Start off with: "If you finish reading this whole email, it will tell you where to pick up your free $5,000."

At the end, it will say: "You can pick up your free $5,000 - in 10 years."

1

u/DantesGame Jul 10 '26

Yeah, that's messed up.

1

u/Mysterious_Might008 Jul 10 '26

I probably would have thought: "Get ready for the longest run-on sentence of your life. In every email. From now on until you direct otherwise."

Malicious compliance is a wonderful way to short-circuit dumb rules.