My pet peeve are those emails that come out every week, or even every day. They have one or two lines that say “please find attached the weekly x. If you have any questions, let us know”, with an attachment. Which I can’t really open on blackberry.

Take the time and write a few sentences on the key soundbites. Why do I care? What is the report telling me that is of interest? If there’s been no change, tell me that. If there has been a deterioration in something (metrics, project status, etc.), tell me that too. Give me some indication of whether or not it’s good news or bad news. More importantly, give me the sense that you know what’s going on. Don’t make me work for it by trying to put the pieces together.

Pushing emails like this out without taking the time to summarize is an opportunity wasted. You have my attention….what do you want to tell me?