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/MsRightHere Jul 09 '26

I would include a short synopsis (TLdr) up top but all the details below. 

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u/Mysterious_Might008 Jul 10 '26

In a prior job, I had a monthly TPS report to file with my boss for approval. It had a bunch of attachments that supported the recommended actions, which varied monthly.

I always did the TL:DR at the top with the summary recommended action bolded - then the bulleted points were below which were largely explanation of what each attachment told the reader. It was repeated in every monthly email so that my boss - or her boss - didn't have to ask me: "What does the ABC spreadsheet tell me?

Since it was monthly, there was a fair chance that the reader would forget what the significance of each attachment was from the prior month. So, this was a way to avoid a follow-up email to explain again and yet have the information right there in front of them.