I love and hate e-mail. I love it because it allows me to communicate my thoughts, and process them completely before sending. But, e-mail can be a hindrance.
We hide behind it, or we send lengthy e-mails assuming they’ll all get read. Then, frustrations arises when questions are asked that were “IN THE E-MAIL!”
I recently came across two sentences. A personal pledge to respond to e-mail consistently, allowing more time to do the tasks that school leaders should be doing. I started doing it, making a pledge of “4 sentences” when sending outgoing mail.
If it takes more than that, I need to reevaluate my means of communication, and see if 5 or more sentences is necessary.
Of course, it’s been difficult, and I’ve had to come up with some ‘exceptions’ to both my two-sentence and four-sentence rule. I’m sure I’ll be adding on – but so far I’ve found these exceptions are necessary:
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Explicit, complicated directions. I have taken time to script these concisely, and 99% of the time use bullet points for ease of use.
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A.P.B.s. All persons bulletin. If news needs to be shared to the entire school community, this can be difficult. I send 1-2 bullet points in the email, then will often send other info as an attachment, not wanting to to take away from the most important parts.
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Responding to multiple questions. I struggle with this. Often I want to walk over and speak with the person, or call them on the phone. But that’s not always possible. So, I tend to number the other party’s questions, and respond each of them. (Keeping it under 2 sentences of course!)
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Inspiration quotes or ideas, or stories. These can often be simple, but my commentary frequently needs more than 2 sentences. I want to convey trust, understanding and background when I share these ideas. I can’t help myself on this one.
Thank you for reading,
-Sean
Sean D'Abreu 
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