Have you recently picked up a software or hardware manual, read the instructions, and then wondered, “What are they talking about?”

Many companies today have reduced their user manuals to a quick flyer on how to set up, get started, and run the program.  Yes, it does make the product seem easy to use on the surface, but how many times have you been frustrated in your attempts to understand?

Even in the online Help section to which you might later turn (providing you get far enough into installation for it to be accessible), you may read the outlined steps but then not be able to find the buttons or words they are telling you to press.

This is just one example of how we have become briefer and briefer in our communications but without being able to get a full point across.  It is the foundation of Twitter.  Tweeters push out a quick, perhaps interesting, phrase, and then you have to click to another user’s comments or to an online link, and that moves on to something else.

I am all in favor of increased productivity through good time management techniques, but I question our direction in some cases.  Yes, we might quickly read through an email, but did we receive sufficient information to make a decision or understand the problem?  Is there another step, like a phone call or return email that I now need to do because of that brief note?

If you have important (or even just interesting) information to convey, consider taking the time to provide enough detail to be effective in bringing about the desired action.  This increased length can actually be a time saver, so do not shy away from composing a useful missive. 

Productivity does not always mean being fast or terse.  It does mean that you reduce the number of steps or the time it takes to bring about the desired action, whether for yourself or for colleagues.