Do you seek clarification via the Teams/telephone first?
Updated by Chloe Lin [SSW] 1 year ago. See history
Sometimes you get a cryptic email and think... "what on earth!?" In those cases, a quick call (on Teams or a phone) can solve most of your troubles.
We've all received a cryptic email at some point. Simply replying "I don't understand" is not productive. Call the person who sent the email instead. Chances are if the sender of the task couldn't explain the task well enough the first time, it's likely a voice conversation is needed to clarify the issue. Having clarified the issue by phone, update the task by replying to the original email with the new details arising from the conversation. Remember to start with "As per our conversation".
Hi Dave
As per our conversation, I needed a bit more information to complete this task. As discussed, in the future so I don't have to bother you, please send me as much information about a task as possible.
To Myself
{{ INFO YOU'VE GOT FROM THE CONVERSATION }}
Regards, Denise
✅ Figure: Good example - Send this email and now move on to your tasks
However, sometimes you cannot immediately reach the task owner. In this case, you should try to contact the person a few more times. If you are still not able to contact them, you should reply to the email and state it in the first line:
Hi Dave
I tried to call but couldn't get hold of you.
I need a bit more information to complete this task. To make sure we understand the task, in the future, can you please clarify the additional information as the example below:
{{ WHAT NEEDS CLARIFICATION }}
Regards, Denise
✅ Figure: Good example - In case you can't reach the person who sent an unclear email
What if you need to send a complex email?
If you ever sent an email and got a response saying it's too cryptic it is because you didn't include enough details. That's why it's important to always add context and reasoning to emails.