[luckylion]

Judging the right amount of information is what I struggle with. It's easier to judge whether someone wants more details when you're talking to them. It's harder when you're responding to a comment or in a chat.

When it's too little, you go back and forth. When it's too much nobody reads your novel. I tend to go into too much detail, so I'm learning go where I feel is adequate and then take a few steps back.

[mikrl]

Every IM I send has an immense emotional toll for some reason. Everyone is overworked and you’re another distraction, you feel like a giant asshole and then project that they’re a giant asshole too until you enter the emotional doom spiral.

In person or on video flows so much more nicely because you can see the effect of interaction and be cordial to each other without the paranoia and dread setting in.

[luckylion]

Yeah, that's a bonus level of complexity, especially when you're reporting directly to someone you know probably has way more important stuff to do but you need a decision from their level about how to approach a certain issue that is constrained mostly by business.

[willjp]

I think it helps if you can preface your paragraph with a short summary.

The reader then knows generally the scope of what you are trying to communicate, and the details become more approachable. That said, I’m pretty horrible at this balance as well, and often lean towards long form “walls of text” that eat office hours, then work OT to compensate.

[luckylion]

The short preface is a good point. Maybe it could even get expanded in more dynamic elements. Basically a short recap with the ability to quickly dive in deeper if interested, so everyone can choose their level of detail, or glance over it, and only drill down if something stands out to them.

I'll need to see whether our systems supports it.