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Until recently, my tendency for perfectionism has extended into every professional email that I’ve sent. I’ve always addressed the recipient with a salutation, written in complete sentences, and signed off with too many words about how the recipient can follow up with questions or concerns—as though it isn’t evident that the recipient can just write back. (Why am I always telling people how to bring their problems to me? That’s a post for another day).
In my quest to get over my perfectionism, I’ve been observing individuals who are not perfectionists. Who in my network writes emails without all the extra niceties and just gets straight to the point? Who in my network sees emails not as novels with pulitzer prize potential but as opportunities for quick updates?
I found several of these people in my network. They’re mostly men. They seem to have figured something out that I haven’t—that their intelligence and capacity is not demonstrated through the prose of their emails but through the work they get done precisely because they are not spending time crafting beautiful emails.
With these individuals, I’ve been testing out a new technique. I’m using their style to communicate with them. I’m skipping salutations, and using fragments or single sentences to announce things or ask a simple question. Since then, 2 interesting things have started happening:
They always respond and they do so promptly.
I have so much more time for other stuff!
This is a big lesson for me. I’m still using professional salutations with initial emails until I build a relationship with someone and we mutually choose to let go of them. I think that kind of professionalism is important for setting the tone, especially for people who have yet to meet your brilliance. However, once you’ve proven yourself, try reallocating your time from writing beautiful emails to actually getting stuff done! It’s life-changing.