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.Briefly describe why you need it.We ll do our best to ex-pedite the assessment for you.Thanks for your help in keeping our operating environment stableand safe.SvenAnswering QuestionsWhen you answer a question, it s a good idea to reference the questionitself.Your reader might be able to find the question in the chain ofconnected e-mails linked below your reply, but many e-mail systemsautomatically truncate the chain.Also, it s possible the person whoasked the question has become so busy that he or she has now forgot-ten the context of the question.To make your answer easy to read andunderstand, use a subject line that references the fact that your readerasked you something and then restate the question in brief.After youdo that, your answer will unfold naturally and logically.Here are twoexamples, one showing how not to do it and the other written in thelanguage of success:SUBJECT: MarketingGwenLead generation from search engines, even those where we pay for topplacement, has gone down over the past 18 months, so that it is nowabout equivalent to the number of leads generated from our print adsin specialist journals.Reuben 6749ch04.qxp_lb 11/9/07 3:07 PM Page 135Chapter 4 The Practice 135Say what? Unless Gwen has had nothing to do for the past fewdays except to sit around waiting for your answer, she may find her-self doing a double take at this message.The sentence is too long(41 words), but even worse is the fact that it seems to come flying atus out of nowhere.What is Reuben talking about? Why am I get-ting this m.? Oh, that s right.We asked him.This e-mail would be clearer if we structured it differently:SUBJECT: Your Q.about lead generationGwenYou asked which method of generating leads was more productive forus now, search engines or print ads.The two sources are now almostidentical.Over the past 18 months, the number of leads from searchengines has declined, including those where we buy top placement.Leads generated by print ads have remained steady.Please call me if you need more information.ReubenX 3713Project Updates and SummariesProject updates, project summaries, progress reports, status reports,and activity reports are all similar in that they provide readers withconcise, accurate information about an ongoing body of work.Thiskind of report tells interested parties whether the work is on sched-ule, whether it has run into unexpected obstacles, whether it s stillwithin budget, whether there are issues of scope creep that mustbe addressed, whether there have been any significant personnelchanges, and so on.You might write a project update or similar re-port internally to keep your colleagues, particularly your boss, up todate on the status of your work.Even more common is the use ofproject updates and status reports to keep a customer informedabout the status of work she is paying your company to handle.Before you write the first update, think carefully about howyou will format it, because each report in the series of updates 6749ch04.qxp_lb 11/9/07 3:07 PM Page 136136 The Language of Successshould follow the same format.By using the same format for everyreport, you make it much easier for your readers to spot the spe-cific information they want to know.You also simplify the readingprocess by repeating the organizational pattern.(This is similarto what happens when you write a series of clauses or bulletpoints in parallel structure.Once the reader sees the pattern is re-peating, his or her task in comprehending your material becomeseasier.)What do your readers want to hear first? (In other words, interms of the informative writing pattern, which bits of informationin your project update or progress report have the broadest interestfor your audience?) Chances are they want to hear (1) what specifictasks have been accomplished since the last report, (2) any challengesor problems that might affect schedules or budgets, and (3) nextsteps.Other areas of content that may be of high importance includethe status of the budget, anything that affects staffing (vacations, ill-nesses, new hires, and so forth), and issues involving facilities, tools,or security.Many project updates are wordy and hard to read because theirauthors organize them chronologically.They often start by rehash-ing the project, its purpose, past milestones, and similar informa-tion that isn t of primary relevance in any progress report except thevery first one.Here s a sample progress report that starts slow andthen gets lost in its own meanderings, ending with a disturbing pro-jection of unexplained cost overruns:SUBJECT: Miller Hall Energy Conservation Project UpdateThis project, as you all know, is focused on implementing a series ofchanges to Miller Hall on the south campus in order to reduce energyconsumption.Miller Hall has long been one of the most importantlecture halls on campus, particularly for the intro level core scienceclasses, which can have as many as 500 students or more enrolled atonce, a number which poses significant challenges for heating andcooling given the volume of body heat given off.Anyway, since last month s report, we have made quite a bit ofprogress toward modifying electric consumption by changing the 6749ch04.qxp_lb 11/9/07 3:07 PM Page 137Chapter 4 The Practice 137lighting scheme, mainly retrofitting with fluorescent lights.This workdoesn t directly affect the comfort issues, at least in terms of roomtemperature and air flow, but as you may recall the original analysisindicated that more electricity was used for lighting than any other as-pect of building operation.In fact, heating and cooling are third, be-hind the A/V plug load associated with the projectors and computersused in the lecture hall and in the second floor information lab.During the coming month, we ll finish up the lighting modificationsand complete installation of additional insulation in the exterior walls.The original cost estimates for the insulation proved to be too low, bythe way.It looks like we re going to need an additional $10,750 tocover it.If you have any questions, please feel free to give me call
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