How to give the right amount of context

Don’t assume your recipient knows what you need

Photo by Max Böhme on Unsplash

1. Remind them where you left off.

2. Be specific and explicit about what you need.

Be specific about what you need and what the next step is. Don’t assume your recipient knows what you need from them.

3. Mention if it’s an FYI.

4. Adopt an action-oriented posture and suggest the next step.

You’re responsible for getting something done, so speak up if you need something. Otherwise, we’ll assume you have what you need.

5. Be explicit about what level of detail you need from your team.

But we can’t read minds, and what’s obvious to you might not be obvious to others.

6. Consider these variables to give more or fewer details.

  • How busy is your recipient? (How much is the topic is 100% of their focus versus only a tiny slice of their day? If your boss has a million things going on, then you may want to give them enough context in one place so they can quickly understand what’s going on.)
  • How reversible is this decision?
  • What’s the magnitude and longevity of the impact if things go wrong? (Do we lose a few hundred bucks, or are we signing a 5-year legally binding contract?)
  • What are questions your boss tends to ask? Answer those questions in advance when you give context.
  • How much detail does your boss usually want?

7. Mention your criteria and assumptions.

  • State the explicit criteria you used -> so your boss can add/remove criteria and see what assumptions you made. This lets you have a more productive conversation.
  • Share how many options you looked at and briefly list them -> so your boss knows you didn’t just pick the first search result on Google.
  • Mention potential risks and trade-offs -> so your boss knows you are aware of what could potentially go awry — and why it won’t be so bad.

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Marketing | Product | Strategy | Prev: altMBA, Seth Godin HQ, Flite (acq by Snapchat), Gap Inc. @wes_kao | weskao.com

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Wes Kao

Marketing | Product | Strategy | Prev: altMBA, Seth Godin HQ, Flite (acq by Snapchat), Gap Inc. @wes_kao | weskao.com