What goes wrong repeatedly.
BURYING THE POINT
Readers stopping before reaching it.
NO CLEAR REQUEST
Messages that inform without asking, and nothing happens.
SEVERAL TOPICS IN ONE MESSAGE
One gets answered.
VAGUE SUBJECT LINES
Deprioritised and unsearchable.
WRITING TO EXPRESS RATHER THAN TO BE UNDERSTOOD
Length that signals effort, not value.
PASSIVE CONSTRUCTION CONCEALING RESPONSIBILITY
Nobody knowing who does what.
JARGON WITH AN OUTSIDE AUDIENCE
Meaning lost, and credibility with it.
HEDGING EVERYTHING
No discernible recommendation.
SOFTENING BAD NEWS UNTIL IT DISAPPEARS
Recipients not realising what they were told.
VAGUE DEFERRAL INSTEAD OF A CLEAR NO
Repeated asking, and resentment.
SENDING WHILE ANGRY
Permanent, forwardable and regretted.
COPYING PEOPLE TO APPLY PRESSURE
Recognised, and remembered longer than the issue.
ASSUMING SHARED CONTEXT
The commonest cause of confusion.
NO SUMMARY ON A LONG DOCUMENT
The only part most readers would have read.
NOT CHECKING NAMES, FIGURES AND DATES
The errors that damage credibility most.
DECISIONS RECORDED NOWHERE
Relitigated in six months.
WHAT MOST OF THESE SHARE
They save the writer minutes and cost the reader more.
