Excellent advice on preparing a policy memo. Looking at your table o the length of publications reminds me of a conversation we've recently had at work. What do you think about limiting emails to 100 words?
Great question! My knee-jerk reaction is ... it depends. I tend to overwrite, but I just looked back at every email I sent yesterday, and only 3 of 30 messages (it was a light email day) exceeded even 50 words. One was more than 100, and it needed to be.
I'm thinking it depends on who the audience is, too. So if a friend and I are arguing about some policy or political issue, those messages are going to wildly vary in length throughout the conversation. If I'm emailing back and forth with students, or with colleagues about administrative/bureaucratic things ... almost certainly 50 words or less. Some people prefer texts, too, which further caps the message length. I find that younger colleagues don't check email as obsessively as I do, so it needs to be a text if I need a quick reply. (As a rule, I don't text students, although I'm open to students texting me if they need a fast response.)
From a practicality standpoint, if the email is over 100 words, you're often better off just calling or stopping by their office, right? Email often feels more expedient, but it stretches out the conversation over a longer period of time. Good ol' human contact really is better in most circumstances (he says as he sits typing on his computer).
Excellent advice on preparing a policy memo. Looking at your table o the length of publications reminds me of a conversation we've recently had at work. What do you think about limiting emails to 100 words?
Great question! My knee-jerk reaction is ... it depends. I tend to overwrite, but I just looked back at every email I sent yesterday, and only 3 of 30 messages (it was a light email day) exceeded even 50 words. One was more than 100, and it needed to be.
I'm thinking it depends on who the audience is, too. So if a friend and I are arguing about some policy or political issue, those messages are going to wildly vary in length throughout the conversation. If I'm emailing back and forth with students, or with colleagues about administrative/bureaucratic things ... almost certainly 50 words or less. Some people prefer texts, too, which further caps the message length. I find that younger colleagues don't check email as obsessively as I do, so it needs to be a text if I need a quick reply. (As a rule, I don't text students, although I'm open to students texting me if they need a fast response.)
From a practicality standpoint, if the email is over 100 words, you're often better off just calling or stopping by their office, right? Email often feels more expedient, but it stretches out the conversation over a longer period of time. Good ol' human contact really is better in most circumstances (he says as he sits typing on his computer).
And where was this in 2023!?!
I know, I know. Wish I could go back in time and fix this. But at least it's out there now. Apologies!