[drb311]

>>Hey Jane, I need your input on how to prioritize my current work. Can you provide guidance on where I should focus?

>>Bug XYZ was assigned to me and it's taking longer to complete because we have a dependency on Vendor ABC completing a change to their web service. This is impacting the commitment to my team on Feature 123 because we are near the end of our sprint.

>>Lemme know.

Yes

[nunez]

> Can you provide guidance on where I should focus?

Should be the call to action/last sentence instead of "Lemme know" (I read that as passive-aggressively asking for a follow up?

> because we have a dependency on Vendor ABC completing a change to their web service. This is impacting the commitment to my team on Feature 123 because we are near the end of our sprint.

Too many words. Saying that vendor ABC is completing a web service won't affect your CTA. Also, that last sentence is implied.

Here is how I would send it:

SUBJECT: Bug XYZ blocking sprint. Help?

BODY:

Hey, Jane. I'm assigned to bug XYZ. We're held up waiting for something from Vendor ABC; this might make us blow our sprint. Can you help me re-prioritize this?

Now, if Jane is one that prefers having everything upfront and is diligent about getting to her emails, then a longer, more detailed message makes sense. However, I usually send my emails with the intent of illiciting a follow-up response; too much information == TL;DR

[notatoad]

"lemme know" isn't passive-agressive, it's a clear request. you've got to sandwich the information you are providing inbetween two copies of the request:

- start with the request, so the recipient knows why they are reading the main content of the email before they start

- give them all the information that you can to help them respond

- and then end with the request again so it's clear what you actually need and they don't have to scroll back up to read it.

the request shouldn't be more than a sentence, so it's not significantly adding to the length to repeat it.

don't be shy about asking for a response - the whole point of an email should be to get a response, and being clear about what you need in the response is just helping your recipient. And if you don't need a response, be clear about that too - but if you're sending email that doesn't require a response, reconsider whether you need to be sending the email.

[PeterisP]

It's not a (sufficiently) clear request because it doesn't contain your recommendation. If you're asking them to provide their opinion, provide yours as well.

That e-mail should have been written in a style where "yes" could be a sufficient answer to the "lemme know" if the supervisor agrees, and currently it's not.