In this tiny article I share why I think structuring work messages with titles, paragraphs and summaries is an important sign of respect.

Why work messages aren't the same than texting a friend

Work messages aren't things you just read when they appear and then never go back to. In fact, often we have to come back to an email or a message and find a specific number, URL or task.

That's why I try as much as possible to structure my work messages so that they are easy to scan when you come back to them.

How to structure great work messages

But how do you do that?

It's damn simple:

• Break down your message in multiple paragraphs

• Add subtitles

• If the message is long add a summary at the top

• Use bold within paragraphs if needed to highlight keywords

That's obvious, no?

You might say: but Daniele! That's obvious stuff.

Sadly no.

If it was obvious 90% of the messages I recieve from colleagues, clients, stakeholders wouldn't be just a long flow of unformatted text without structure.

I feel it's a form of politness to structure your message in a way that is quick to read the first time, and easy to come back to in the future.

So if one day you have to send me a message and you want me to feel very happy when recieving it: format it.