How do I get people to actually read project update emails?
Almost nobody reads status emails, forcing managers to treat them as an audit trail rather than communication. This leaves teams constantly confused, generates duplicate support tickets, and turns updates into an exercise where you just send messages knowing they will be ignored.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Holding meetings just to ensure information is consumedDid this help you?
- 2Sending emails primarily for audit trails and documentation (CYA)Did this help you?
- 3Using multiple channels like Slack, wikis, and newsletters simultaneouslyDid this help you?
- 4Putting non-responsive colleagues on blast during meetingsDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“barely 10% (!!) of the participants actually read my Go-Live email. Some even deleted without reading it.”source ↗
“Does anyone else just presume no one is going to read their emails but still send them anyway?”source ↗
“I update an outline, and give weekly stand ups about progress. And yet, people are still confused about the current status.”source ↗
“yep. i send emails knowing they’re mostly for audit, not action.”source ↗
“Yeah, people still don't read the emails, but I have a huge CYA when Bob in accounting doesn't get the work done.”source ↗
“people never read our emails and then send in tickets about "Why is this happening"”source ↗
Where this came up
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