Assertive communication

“So sorry for the delay” New: “Thanks for your patience”
(I FORGOT, BUT YOU CAN DEAL)

“What works best for you?“ New: “Could you do :?”
(MY TIME MATTERS TOO, OKAY)

“No problem!” New: “Happy to help!”
(YEAH, YOU’RE WELCOME)

“I think it’d be best if we ” New: “It’d be best if we ”

“Just wanted to check on this, no rush!”
New: “Let me know when you have an update and we can touch base.”

“I was wondering if it would be possible to ?” New: “It’d be easiest to _; can we make that happen?”

typing and deleting and retyping for 40 minutes, trying to phrase everything perfectly without the email being too long
New: “It’d be easier to talk in person than over email— would you mind if I set up a time on the calendar for us to discuss this more?”

“Ahhh, sorry!! Apologies, I didn’t notice that. My bad.”
New: “Nice catch—updated file attached. Thanks for letting me know!”

“I was wondering if it would be okay if I could leave work early for a doctor’s appt.”
New: “I have a doctor’s appt at 3pm and will need to leave early.”

I resent being told to not use certain words, but I now have a habit of re-reading emails to check for too many qualifiers.

JUST JUST JUST:

“Just wondering”
“Just confirming”
“Just checking if”
“Just wanted to make sure”
“Just a quick reminder”
“Just wanted to let you know”