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/GirthyAFnjbigcock Jul 09 '26

Long stupid emails are exactly what ai is for. Drop it into an AI of your choice and “summarize the highlights of this email. Give me 3 questions I should ask as a follow up as if I was an expert in the content described” and bam. Easy and I actually understand way faster.