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Writing Better Emails: How to Avoid "Should we do X or not?"
The Problem
Has this ever happened to you?
You send an email like one of the following:
- “Should we do X or Y?”
- “Should we do X or [the opposite of X]?”
- “Should we do X or not?”
- “Should we do X or something else?”
Because of the way that you phrased your question, if the other person simply replies “Yes” or “No,” it won’t be clear which alternative they prefer. You will then have to reply, asking what they actually meant, which might be mildly irritating on their end, since it’s obvious to them!
This gets especially tricky if your email also includes a long explanation of X, which may lead the other person to get lost in your text (or skip reading it entirely) and end up unclear about your question.
Rewrite your email to be clearer and more productive
Instead, I suggest:
- “Let’s do X. Does that work for you?”
- “I’m inclined to do X. Would that work for you?”
- “I think our next best step is X. Is that good for you?”
This way, your message becomes simpler, more proactive, and their response is much more likely to be unambiguous, which saves time for both of you.
And then, if their reply is “Yes” you can move forward with X, and if it’s “No” you can reply offering a different choice or write “Ok, what do you suggest?”
Also, if you include a lengthy explanation of X, I recommend putting your question first, skipping a line or two, and then writing your explanation.
Conclusion
Changing your phrasing from “Either/Or” to “Yes/No” can make your email conversations more productive, and also avoids bringing up alternative choices too early.
Where to go from here
As always, instead of getting into a potentially intricate or unproductive email discussion you could write, “This is too complicated to discuss by email. Let’s find a time when I could call you so we can talk by phone or Zoom.”
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