When you send out poorly written communication, you’re saying, “My time is more valuable than yours.” You might not mean it that way, but that’s how it comes across. The message isn’t just in the words you choose but in how much care you put into them.
A sloppy, hard-to-read email means someone else is going to spend extra time decoding it. Multiply that across an entire team, and you’re wasting hours of productivity. And for what? To save yourself a few seconds? That’s a bad trade.
Your writing style impacts more than just your own communication—it sets a tone for the team. If you write sloppy messages, other team members will think it’s okay to do the same. Before you know it, everyone’s writing half-baked emails that are hard to follow, and team communication deteriorates.
Imagine this scenario: You’re leading a project, and you write a vague, typo-filled message to a teammate. They reply with their own unclear response. Now you’ve both wasted time trying to figure out what the other meant, and progress has slowed.
Think about a bug report in a software project. If a developer logs a bug with poor writing—missing details, unclear descriptions—the person assigned to fix it will need to ask for clarification. That back-and-forth eats up valuable time, and a bug that could’ve been solved quickly drags on.
Compare that to a detailed, well-written bug report that’s clear from the start. The developer can jump in, understand the issue immediately, and fix it without delay.
Set a Higher Standard
I’m not saying you need to write like Hemingway in every Slack message. But writing clear, thoughtful communication shows respect for your team. It says, “I value your time and want to make sure this is easy to understand.”
Here are some basic tips I follow:
- Proper grammar and punctuation.
- Proofread before sending.
- Avoid abbreviations that might confuse others.
- Break long messages into smaller paragraphs for readability.
These might seem like small things, but they add up. Clear, concise writing improves team communication, cuts down on misunderstandings, and saves everyone time.
In many ways, your writing is a reflection of your professionalism. If you take the time to write well, people notice. They’re more likely to take you seriously because it shows you care about the details.