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Mohamed Idris
Mohamed Idris

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Timely and Clear Internal Written Communication

#learning #webdev #communication #career

Effective communication is essential for smooth team collaboration. Here are some key practices to help ensure that your email acknowledgments and internal requests are timely, clear, and efficient.

1. Timely Acknowledgment of Emails

To avoid delays in tasks, it’s important to acknowledge emails quickly.

  • Best Practices:

    • Acknowledge all emails by the end of the same working day or by the next working day (before lunch).
    • If a full response isn’t possible, provide a status update or an estimated response time.
    • Avoid silence—respond within 24 hours to keep things moving forward.
    • If there’s a delay, communicate it early.

2. Providing Context in Internal Requests

When making requests to your colleagues, always provide context and a clear timeline to help prioritize the task.

  • Best Practices:

    • Explain why you’re requesting something and how it fits into the larger project.
    • Set a clear deadline, so your colleague knows when to prioritize the request.
    • Acknowledge your colleague’s workload and allow them to set a realistic deadline.

3. Setting Clear Expectations and Accountability

Clear expectations lead to better task management and smoother collaboration.

  • Best Practices:

    • If someone commits to a task, make sure there’s a clear deadline and deliverable.
    • Confirm deadlines and communicate your availability if you are taking on a task.
    • If you can't meet a deadline, communicate this early to manage expectations.

Summary

  • Acknowledge emails within 24 hours to avoid delays.
  • When requesting something, provide context and clear timelines.
  • Set clear expectations and be transparent about delays.

By following these simple guidelines, we can create a more efficient, respectful, and collaborative work environment where communication flows smoothly and everyone stays aligned. Let’s prioritize clear, timely communication and keep things moving forward with ease!

Valuable takeaways from Scandiweb

Top comments (2)

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edriso profile image
Mohamed Idris •

Quick Quiz

Question 1:
You need access to a Notion page (URL link) and email your colleague for help. Which request BEST follows the guidelines for clarity and context?

  • Answer: B. “I need access to the page (URL link) for the ABC project. Please provide it by 12/12 to avoid delays in the deliverables.”
  • A. “Please grant access to the page (URL link) ASAP. Let me know if there are issues.”
  • C. “Can you give me access to the page (URl link)?”
  • D. “Grant access to the page (URL link) by the end of the week; this is for a project I’m working on.”

Question 2:
You receive an email from a colleague asking for assistance with an urgent task. What response BEST aligns with the email acknowledgment policy?

  • Answer: C. Reply on the same day or by the next working day before lunch, stating either your progress or when they can expect a resolution.
  • A. Respond two days later with a brief apology for the delay and an update on your progress.
  • B. Immediately forward the email to someone else who might help, without responding to the sender.
  • D. Wait until the task is fully resolved before sending a detailed response.

Question 3:
The task is complete. I expect to finish by [specific date].

  • Answer: Correct, this was a fill-in-the-blank, and it was completed as expected.

Question 4:
You received an email from a colleague at 10 AM asking for your input on a project before go-live. By the next afternoon, you still haven’t responded. What should you do differently next time?

  • Answer: D. Acknowledge the email on the same day or by the next morning, even if you don’t have a full answer yet.
  • A. Let the colleague follow up if they need it urgently.
  • B. Focus on finishing other tasks first and reply when you have the availability.
  • C. Wait until you have all the information before replying to the sender.

Question 5:
A colleague missed a mutually agreed deadline for an internal task but didn’t notify you. You decided to wait another two days before following up. What should you do differently to manage deadlines effectively?

  • Answer: A. Follow up on the progress of the task within the allocated time after the deadline and ask for an update.
  • Answer: C. Escalate the matter to your manager if the deadline was missed and there has been no status update.
  • Answer: D. Follow up on the progress of the task before the deadline to ensure everything is on track.
  • B. Wait longer after the deadline to give them more time to respond.

Question 6:
You asked a colleague for help with a task but didn’t explain its significance. As a result, they deprioritized your request, which caused delays in your project. Reflecting on this situation, which of the following is the BEST approach to ensure better collaboration and prioritization in the future?

  • Answer: A. Clearly articulate how the task contributes to larger objectives, such as meeting key project deadlines or supporting client deliverables, and specify a reasonable timeline for completion.
  • B. Assume your colleague understands the importance of the task based on the urgency in your tone or context, and let them prioritize it accordingly.
  • C. Wait for your colleague to request clarification or more details before explaining why the task is important to the overall project.
  • D. Trust that your colleague will manage their workload effectively and get to your request when they have availability, without additional input from you.

Question 7:
You receive an internal email asking you to take on a task with an immediate deadline, but the request is vague and lacks context. The email doesn’t mention why the task is important or how it fits into the larger project. What is the most appropriate response, according to communication best practices?

  • Answer: B. Respond promptly to the email by requesting more context and a clear timeline for completion. Let your colleague know that you’re happy to take on the task, but you need more details to understand its priority and how it fits into the broader project.
  • A. Ignore the request until your colleague follows up, as you don’t have enough information to act on it right away.
  • C. Assume the task is urgent, begin working on it, and notify your colleague later that it’s done.
  • D. Start the task based on your assumptions and notify your colleagues when you’ve completed it, expecting that they will be grateful for the proactive approach.

Question 8:
You are working on a task with a two-week deadline. According to best practices for clear communication and accountability, what is the BEST approach to keep the requester informed about your progress?

  • Answer: D. Provide a status update midway through the timeline (e.g., after one week) or earlier, indicating your progress and whether the deadline is still achievable.
  • A. Complete the task quietly and inform the requester only if they follow up asking for progress.
  • B. Only give a status update if you encounter significant delays or challenges that might affect the deadline.
  • C. Wait until the two-week deadline to submit the completed task, assuming no updates are necessary unless asked.

Question 9:
Case Study: You are a team member working on project X. The project is about to transition to the delivery team, and you’ve received the email below outlining updates, documentation needs, and responsibilities. Which of the following actions align with effective documentation practices for the transition to the delivery team?

  • Answer: A. Transfer relevant details from the estimation scope into the Notion documentation without adding unnecessary information.
  • Answer: B. Prioritize updating only the Hyva implementation scope in the Notion documentation to avoid scope creep.
  • Answer: E. Collaborate with team members to ensure documentation is consistent and comprehensive.
  • C. Wait until the internal handover to finalize the documentation, as the delivery team only requires the completed version at that point.
  • D. Focus only on your specific responsibilities and avoid coordinating with others to minimize effort duplication.

Question 10:
Case Study: Review the email exchange regarding Magento 2.4.7 updates. How does the team member’s reply demonstrate effective communication in response to the initial request?

  • Answer: C. The response was concise but did not fully align with Sacred Number guidelines due to missing customer-specific examples.
  • Answer: D. The team member clarified key points, offered actionable insights, and suggested follow-up discussions, aligning with Sacred Number guidelines.
  • A. The response was concise but did not fully align with Sacred Number guidelines due to missing customer-specific examples.
  • B. The response partially improved on the initial request but lacked clarity on certain Magento 2.4.7 features.

Question 11:
Case Study: Email regarding the onboarding of a new client. How effectively does the email address the client’s concerns, and what key improvement could enhance the response?

  • Answer: D. The email outlines the client’s ecosystem and pain points but could improve by proposing a timeline and clarifying next steps for gaining GA access.
  • A. The email identifies the issue of unreliable GA data but does not provide sufficient clarity on how the audit would resolve the client’s concerns.
  • B. The email clearly identifies the client’s main pain points, proposes an audit as the solution, and assigns follow-up actions to specific team members.
  • C. The email effectively highlights the need for a data audit but misses opportunities to explain the value of resolving the pain points for the client’s business decisions.

Question 12:
Case Study: Email regarding invoice submission. When should you acknowledge the email?

  • Answer: C. By the end of the same working day or the next working day before lunch.
  • A. Immediately upon receiving the email, regardless of your workload.
  • B. Within 48 hours, as you may need extra time to respond.
  • D. Only when the task is completed.

Question 13:
Case Study: Email regarding the development environment setup request. How should you respond to this email if you cannot assign the ticket to a DevOps member by the end of the day?

  • Answer: A. Communicate that you are unable to assign the ticket by the end of the day and provide a realistic timeline for when it will be done.
  • B. Wait until the ticket is assigned and then respond to the email.
  • C. Forward the email to another team member without any explanation.
  • D. Inform the sender that you will get to this task as soon as possible without providing specifics.
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edriso profile image
Mohamed Idris •

Question 9:

Case Study:
You are a team member working on project X. The project is about to transition to the delivery team, and you’ve received the email below outlining updates, documentation needs, and responsibilities. As part of this process, you are responsible for ensuring the Notion documentation is updated and ready for the handover. Internal Communication guidelines emphasize clear communication, stakeholder alignment, and process efficiency.

Email (names have been removed)

Subject: Re: project X: Phase 2 Discovery Scope Summary

Hi team,

Thank you for all your efforts so far! We have reached the stage where we’re preparing to hand over the project to the delivery team. I’d like to provide you with recent updates on the Phase 2 project and kindly request your assistance with the documentation process. Please find the details below:

UPDATES
To avoid overwhelming the support team with multiple projects running simultaneously, we’ve decided to introduce a separate stream (Delivery Team) for project execution. We anticipate receiving the green light from the client this week to kick off the project.

DOCUMENTATION
We’ve onboarded a team member from the Discovery stream to help populate the documentation. However, input from all relevant contributors is crucial to cover the parts that fall under their scope. To ensure a smooth transition for the new stream, I kindly ask everyone to update the project X Discovery Notion space as you would for any other project.

RESPONSIBILITIES
Team members working on customer experience should populate the Customer Experience documentation.

Team members responsible for customer lifecycle management should complete the Customer Lifecycle Definition documentation.

Most of the required details are already available from the estimation scope. This step simply involves transferring that information into the collective Notion space.

Note: This is meant to outline only the Hyva implementation scope.

DEADLINE
We aim to have an internal handover this Thursday/Friday. If you could fill the space as much as you can until then, it would be greatly appreciated. For teams with heavier workloads, it is not expected to have everything filled at once, but at least parts of it should be updated.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or need clarification.

Kind regards,

Question:
Based on the email provided and the Internal communication guidelines, which of the following actions align with effective documentation practices for the transition to the delivery team?

Select one or more:

  • A. Transfer relevant details from the estimation scope into the Notion documentation without adding unnecessary information.
  • B. Prioritize updating only the Hyva implementation scope in the Notion documentation to avoid scope creep.
  • C. Wait until the internal handover to finalize the documentation, as the delivery team only requires the completed version at that point.
  • D. Focus only on your specific responsibilities and avoid coordinating with others to minimize effort duplication.
  • E. Collaborate with team members to ensure documentation is consistent and comprehensive.

Question 10:

Case Study:

Below is an excerpt from an internal email exchange regarding Magento 2.4.7 updates. Review the open-ended request and the detailed response provided by a team member. Then, answer the question based on Scandiweb's Sacred Number guidelines:

Clarity and conciseness
Actionable insights
Dates and deadlines for response
Focusing on solutions
Considering the recipient’s context and needs

Email 1 (Initial Request)

"Hi Team,

I’m wondering if anyone has feedback on whether our customers benefited from these recent changes or improvements.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

Best regards,"

Email 2 (Reply)

"Some of these changes allow for AppBuilder support on Adobe Commerce and might be used for MET. Assume those on 2.4.7 would benefit primarily from reindexing changes.

While I don’t handle upgrades extensively, I generally recommend 2.4.6+ to clients dealing with cache invalidation or reindexing issues, as it’s the simplest solution for such cases when audits identify those problems.

Regarding customer benefits:

  • Improved performance: Faster config cache generation and better reindexing processes.
  • Bundled product fixes: Helps clients who work with heavily customized bundles.
  • Enhanced GraphQL capabilities: Improves performance for PWA projects.

Happy to dive deeper into specific areas if needed. Let’s set up a time for further discussion if required."

Question:
How does the team member’s reply demonstrate effective communication in response to the initial request?

Select one or more:

  • A. The response was concise but did not fully align with Sacred Number guidelines due to missing customer-specific examples.
  • B. The response partially improved on the initial request but lacked clarity on certain Magento 2.4.7 features.
  • C. The team member addressed customer benefits but missed providing a timeline or specific follow-up actions.
  • D. The team member clarified key points, offered actionable insights, and suggested follow-up discussions, aligning with Sacred Number guidelines.

Question 11:

Case Study:

Below is an email regarding the onboarding of a new client. Review the email exchange and answer the question based on Scandiweb's Internal Communication guidelines:

Clarity and conciseness
Actionable insights
Dates and deadlines for response
Focusing on solutions
Considering the recipient’s context and needs

Email Content:

Subject: Analytics audit for a new client

Hi,

We have a new great and quite big client - client Y

They just signed a support agreement with us, and we are starting to learn their ecosystem (which is made of BigCommerce with Next.js FE, some 15+ more systems) and a mobile app, slowly overtaking the maintenance and learning about their main pain points that should be addressed asap.

One of the key pain points the client mentioned to us is not reliable data in GA, which most likely starts with incorrect data layer implementation. Additionally, they have huge bot attacks that mess up the data in GA even more. As a result, they can't trust the data to make any business decisions.

It seems that we should offer them some kind of audit of the data layer and of GA setup and the data.

Do we currently have access to their GA account?

Please let me know what you think and how it would be better to approach this.

Best regards,
Delivery Manager

Question:
Based on the Internal Communication guidelines, how effectively does the email address the client’s concerns, and what key improvement could enhance the response?

Select one:

  • A. The email identifies the issue of unreliable GA data but does not provide sufficient clarity on how the audit would resolve the client’s concerns.
  • B. The email clearly identifies the client’s main pain points, proposes an audit as the solution, and assigns follow-up actions to specific team members.
  • C. The email effectively highlights the need for a data audit but misses opportunities to explain the value of resolving the pain points for the client’s business decisions.
  • D. The email outlines the client’s ecosystem and pain points but could improve by proposing a timeline and clarifying next steps for gaining GA access.

Question 12:

Case Study:

Below is an email outlining a request related to invoices. Based on the guidelines for email acknowledgment and internal requests, answer the multiple-choice question.

Email Example
Subject: Invoice Submission

Hi,

Please find project Z Readymage invoice SCAE-Z44 for November attached. As agreed over Slack, since we have no other contacts for them, please send it to the recipient via the specified method.

In addition to the invoice, please also send:

  • Readymage Detailed Invoice - project Z - November 2024: invoice breakdown.
  • Notice on the recent reorganization of accounts, which explains why this invoice is now issued from a different entity.

Once you send the documents, please confirm to ensure alignment.

Thank you!

Question:
The sender expects confirmation once the documents have been sent. Based on the guidelines, by when should you acknowledge this email?

Select one:

  • A. Immediately upon receiving the email, regardless of your workload.
  • B. Within 48 hours, as you may need extra time to respond.
  • C. By the end of the same working day or the next working day before lunch.
  • D. Only when the task is completed.

Question 13:

Case Study:

Below is an email outlining a request related to setting up a separate development environment. Based on the guidelines for email acknowledgment and internal requests, answer the multiple-choice question.

Email Example
Subject: Development Environment Request

Hi,

It is time for us to set up a separate development environment for PMAI. Currently, we are testing all deployments directly on the production environment. Considering that PMAI is now used company-wide, we can't risk breaking it with each deployment.

Here is a ticket for creating it: [Link to Ticket]

In case there are project-specific technical questions, you can reach out to the relevant team member.

Could you please assign this to a DevOps member by the end of today (19th Dec) so that we have an estimate and delivery date set by the end of this week?

Thank you!

Question/Scenario:
You cannot assign the ticket to a DevOps member by the end of the day due to other urgent tasks. Based on the guidelines, how should you respond to this email?