Recently The Information’s Sam Lessin posted this controversial tweet:

It may have been the melodramatically awkward phrasing of “raw/naked,” or the long Notes app screenshot, but trolls and snarky responses immediately started rolling in. One of the most valid counterpoints was by Arjay Ruggles, founder of HomeRoom, a Discord community management startup. 

Ruggles has a point. But then again, so does Lessin. We’ve seen it time and again in our internal communications - we don’t use Calendly much, but we do record video and voice notes to send asynchronous messages - and these convenient tools all too often allow managers to be thoughtless and impersonal in communication. 

One of the downsides of async communication is the inability to read intent. When someone sends you a Calendly link, or a video or voice memo, an email or doc, it's hard to tell what the intent behind it is - Is this urgent? What's really needed from me here? Is the sender unhappy with me? Do they actually want to talk to me? Were they just thinking aloud? How do I respond in a way that makes my own intent clear? 

We love async communication for its flexibility, but more importantly we love its thoughtfulness, slowness, calmness, and focus. 

That being said, here's a sample thought exercise to go through before sending your next async memo, video, calendar link, or voice note:

1. Revisit your last communication with the person on the other end - what was the tone? Would a friendly, personal greeting help?
2. Consider the recipient’s timezone/schedule - could you schedule your message to go out at a particularly convenient time for them?
3. Write a draft if you need to.
4. Revise said draft. Get feedback from a teammate if you have any doubts.
5. Read aloud to yourself (or replay the video you've recorded) to make sure it makes sense before sending.
6. Read/watch it again.
7. Send. 

Of course, you don’t need to go through every step every time, but it will go a long way towards focusing your messaging, and delighting the person on the other side. 

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