This is the second of my 5 tips for more effective email messages.
I learned the term BLUF (bottom line up front) a few weeks ago from a post by Trent Lythgoe.
The term may be new to me, but the concept is not. In an email, get to the point as soon as possible.
It may seem polite to provide context before making a request, but people are busy—don’t give them more to do than you need to.
Think about it: does the receiver want to waste time reading the background? Ask for what you want first, and add the context afterwards.
So, instead of:
Next week, the board are considering capital investment budgets for next year. This is a chance to secure funding for Project X, provided we can pull a business case together. Could you send me your latest estimate of the cost of Project X by the end of this week, please?
You would write:
Please send me your latest estimate of the cost for Project X by the end of this week. Context: Next week, the board are considering capital investment budgets for next year. This is a chance to secure funding for Project X, provided we can pull a business case together.
There’s a second benefit to this approach. Most people have their mail client preferences set to show a preview of the first line or two in the inbox. If it starts with “I hope you are well,” that’s all they see. If it starts with “Please approve purchase order XYZ123,” the receiver immediately understands the message before opening it.
