☕ Welcome to The Coder Cafe! Today, we discuss an efficient communication method presented in the Debugging Teams book called 3 bullets and a call to action. I’ve been using it extensively over the past months, and I can confirm its efficiency. Get cozy, grab a coffee, and let’s begin!
At Google, I recently switched to a new domain: Google Distributed Cloud Connected1. Here, all the teams are very busy, and finding an efficient way to communicate over email or chat can be challenging, especially when asking someone to do something.
Recently, I came across a simple technique: three bullets and one call to action. The idea is the following:
Add three bullet points explaining the key context
Follow with one clear call to action
Let’s look at a concrete example. Suppose you receive the following email:
Hi,
I recently wrote a design doc on how to save storage in the context of X, where I describe the current problem and the approach we could take to address it. In the document, I go through the main trade-offs involved and explain why the proposal focuses on solution Y in particular. I also included several open questions related to the deployment strategy and some areas where feedback would be especially helpful. It would be great if you could take a look at the document and leave comments by Friday.
Thanks!
Quite a mouthful. It requires a non-trivial amount of brain time to understand both the context and what the person is actually asking for.
Now let’s apply the three bullets and a call to action strategy:
Hi,
I recently wrote a design doc on how to save storage in the context of X.
It highlights the main trade-offs and focuses on the solution Y.
I’ve added open questions around the deployment strategy.
Could you please have a look and leave comments by Friday?
Thanks!
Much better, right? The call to action is clear, and the context is structured around short and easy-to-scan sentences.
Why does it work? When communicating via email or chat, people prefer short and memorable messages that do not require too much cognitive effort to process. Bullet points help break information into smaller chunks, which makes the message easier to scan quickly. Ideally, the bullet points and the call to action should be as short as possible.
Another aspect is that 3 is often a magic number in communication. With 2 items, you often get a contrast. With 3 items, you start to get a small structure or rhythm that is easier for the mind to process. That is one of the reasons why the rule of three appears so often in writing, storytelling, and presentations, where it helps make ideas more engaging and convincing.
Remember: to improve your chances of getting an answer to your request, use 3 short bullets and an efficient call to action.
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Only 2, sorry about that.
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💬 What do you think about this strategy? Have you tried something similar?
That partially explains why I wasn’t so active with The Coder Cafe these days. It will get better, I promise.