Correspondence
The Brief Professional Reply
- Time required
- Three minutes
- Equipment
- The message being answered, The relevant date or fact
- Standard expected
- The sender knows the answer, the responsible person, and the next expected action.
Most professional correspondence asks for a decision, a fact, or the confirmation of an arrangement. Give that answer near the beginning, add what the recipient will require for his next step, and leave the longer explanation for those occasions upon which it has some work to do.
Method
Read the full message, including the question at its end. Begin with the answer: “Thursday at two suits me,” “I approve the revised estimate,” or “The report will be ready on Monday.”
Add the fact needed to act upon that answer: the location, the promised document, the version under discussion, or the name of the person who will perform the next task. When several questions have been asked, answer them in the order received; a short numbered list is often kinder than a paragraph in which the replies must be hunted down.
Close with the next action and its owner: “I shall send the figures by noon,” or “Please ask Martin to confirm the room.” A plain “Kind regards” remains serviceable where the relationship calls for it.
Check the recipients before sending. Reply to all only when all require the reply. Preserve the subject line when the conversation remains upon the same matter; begin a new message when it has wandered elsewhere.
Common errors
“See below” sends the reader into the old correspondence without telling him what he is expected to find there, while “Sounds good” may leave him uncertain which of several proposals has been accepted. At the other extreme, a simple answer padded with formal phrases begins to suggest that the writer is billing by the word.
The Butler's RuleAnswer the question in the opening sentence and include whatever date, document, or name the reader will require in order to act upon that answer.