Balancing information and action in internal emails

Want to stand out as a law firm associate? Have a dialed-in client email strategy. Ease the burden of your in-house contact's email inbox. As with any strategy, understanding the reality of your in-house clients' world is key: they're juggling multiple legal matters. They're serving dozens or even hundreds of internal "clients" across their organization. Each business unit, manager, and project team needs their attention. Their inbox is a constant stream of urgent requests, necessary approvals, and internal discussions. Every email you send either adds to or eases this cognitive burden. How you email can make a real difference in how clients view both you and your firm. Your email habits show you understand their world and are actively working to make their job easier (bad habits will have the opposite effect). In addition to understanding their world, it's important to understand their communication preferences. In other words, there's no one-size-fits-all-approach here. But...there are some solid go-to techniques that, at least in my experience, most in-house counsel appreciate. Here are a few ideas: 1. Lead with clear "next steps" at the top of a substantive email—don't bury action items in lengthy prose. 2. Write in a way that makes it easy for your in-house contact to forward to business colleagues: use plain English summaries, clear headers, and explicitly call out what's needed from each stakeholder. 3. Remember that your email might be forwarded multiple times as part of internal discussions, so make it scannable and self-contained—a business executive should be able to understand the key points without needing the full email chain for context. 4. Make your subject lines work harder—label them clearly as [ACTION NEEDED] or [UPDATE ONLY] and include a few key details for context. 5. Keep separate matters in separate emails—this makes it easier for your in-house contact to forward only relevant pieces to different business teams. 6. When sending documents for review, highlight the 2-3 key areas needing attention rather than leaving them to hunt through the full document. 7. Instead of sending multiple updates, consolidate them into regular digestible summaries. Create a predictable rhythm your clients can rely on—they'll appreciate knowing when to expect updates and can plan their workflow accordingly. 8. For complex matters with multiple workstreams, maintain a simple status report that can be quickly skimmed or forwarded to show progress at a glance. These things might seem small, but they demonstrate real professionalism and understanding of your clients' needs. You're not just handling legal work—you're actively making your clients' jobs easier. And that goes a long way toward helping you stand out as an associate for the right reasons.

Before the digital age, a large part of the workforce comprised of “file pushers”, because organisations needed people to do the mundane tasks. Things changed with the digital age, and we are now in the AI age. Organisations cannot afford to have employees who just forward the emails to their bosses or share the minutes of the meeting that just ended. Organisations are looking lovingly at the #knowledgeworker (remember this term coined by Peter Drucker in 1959 and that got famous again at the turn of the century?). These are the employees who bring their expertise to the table and add value to every project, job, and task. And #communication is an important part of their expertise. ************ According to various studies, the average person spends around 28% of their work week on #email, which translates to roughly 11 hours per week dedicated to reading, writing, and managing emails. The average time to write an email is around 5 mins. But do we make those 5 mins worth the email recipient’s time? Let me suggest a basic framework: SIRA ************ S for #Summarize: Ensure that the recipient gets a quick idea of what you want to say. Whenever you are describing an event, process, or product, write a short summary for the benefit of the recipient, and then elaborate on it. If you are sharing data, for God’s sake, include row totals and column totals. I for #Insights: Remember this famous corporate saying – “This meeting could have been an email?” Because most meetings ultimately feature only discussions and not insights. Things don’t seem to move forward. Same holds true for emails. Instead of being just a postman, one should always add value to what is being discussed or shared. R for #Recommendations: There was a time when having a large team was a matter of pride and indicative of someone’s stature in the organisation. This is the age of lean teams with expectations of high productivity and empowered team members. Such teams do not prefer team members who simply collate information and forward it, but those who add their own “two cents” to it. A for #Action / Ask: You have given me a summary, insights and your recommendation; so what do I do with all that information? Is it FYI or FYA or FYR&A? Even writing “FYI” at least conveys that no action is required. Clearly state what do you expect from the recipient(s). ********** Every piece of information that comes out of your mouth or passes by your inbox should follow the SIRA framework. I was always insist that any communication, especially email, should be written in such a manner that any third-person who looks at that email even after two years should be able to make out who said what and why.

I’ve worked in communications for a long time. That doesn’t mean I know everything. But it does mean I spot patterns. Here’s 3 mistakes I see happening inside organisations again and again (and how to fix them).   ❌ Using corporate jargon to look impressive. Saying “synergistic alignment of stakeholder objectives” doesn’t make you sound smart. It makes you sound like ChatGPT had a stroke. Your employees won’t be impressed, they’ll be confused (and probably a bit annoyed). ✅ Use clear, simple language that your audience will understand easily.   ❌ The ‘spray and pray’ approach to sharing updates. There’s this temptation to share all messages with all employees “in the interest of transparency”. But honestly, no one wants this. It just leads to information overload and a noisy, cluttered inbox that everyone ignores. ✅ Before hitting ‘send’, ask yourself “who really needs this information?” Target your updates. Fewer irrelevant updates = fewer frustrated employees.   ❌ No clear call-to-action. You’ve written something brilliant; jargon free and targeted. But you forgot to tell the reader what to DO with it. Without a clear instruction, employees won’t know what’s expected of them and won’t take any action. ✅ Be crystal clear on your communication objective. Be explicit about what you want the receiver to DO. Be specific and prescriptive. These aren’t minor irritations. They’re recurring mistakes that cause frustration, disengagement and erosion of trust over time. Fix these problems and you’re on the right track. What communication mistakes do you see happening over and over again? –––– 🚫 Don’t let an algorithm decide what you read; join 8,292 readers who get my weekly internal comms tips straight to their inbox. ⬆️ Click "Try my free newsletter" on my page to sign up.

#WednesdayHacks: Writing Emails That Actually Get Read (and Inspire Action). We’ve all been there, you open your inbox and it’s overflowing. Some emails you read immediately, others you skim, and a good number you… ignore completely. At work, I once sent an important update to my team, only to realize days later that no one had acted on it. Why? The email was too long, the subject line was vague, and the key point was buried in paragraph three. Lesson learned. Here are some common email mistakes that make people ignore your messages: 😶Vague or boring subject lines (“Update” or “Info” won’t cut it). 😪 Long blocks of text with no clear point Burying the key message in the middle of the email. 😬 Overly formal or robotic tone that disconnects from the reader. 🤕Forgetting a clear call to action. 💡 And here’s something we often forget: It’s not just how you write, but also where you write. Choosing the right communication channel is key. Emails work best for short, direct information that needs to be documented. If you want to explain at length or have a back-and-forth discussion, maybe that’s better suited for the work WhatsApp group or a quick call. Right channel = faster action. So here’s your Wednesday Hack: 📌Nail the subject line – Make it clear and action-driven. E.g., “Action Required: Submit Reports by Friday”. 📌Start with purpose – State why you’re writing in the first two lines. 📌Keep it short & structured – Use bullet points or numbers if needed. 📌Make the task clear – End with what you want the reader to do. 📌Pick the right channel – Use email for short, direct info; other platforms for deeper conversations. When you respect people’s time, your emails stop being “just another message” and start becoming emails that move things forward. Over to you: What’s the worst email mistake you’ve seen at work, or the one that annoys you most? #WednesdayHacks #WorkplaceCommunication #EmailTips #ProfessionalGrowth #Productivity I’m Marvian Kaddu, a PR, Communications and Brand Strategy professional. I help brands and young professionals grow visibility and credibility through clear brand identity, strategic positioning, and excellent client experiences that connect and convert. Whether it’s managing Corporate or Personal Brands, moderating panels, or speaking at events—I bring clarity and energy to every stage and platform. 📩 For bookings or collaborations, follow my page, send a DM, or email me at hellomarvian@gmail.com.