So you wrote an email asking someone a direct question, but you didn’t get a direct answer. Now what?

It is so frustrating when you write an email to someone asking a direct question and they either a) never write you back or b) write something back that is unrelated to what you asked.

This can happen in any area of your life, but I’m an expert in business writing not family therapy. So, I’m going to provide an answer best suited for professional contexts.

Communication is the intersection between two minds: a speaker and a listener or a reader and a writer. Effective communication occurs when both people understand approximately the same thing from one act of messaging.

In conversation, we’re used to handling communication lapses mostly quickly and easily. You are telling someone a story and say “Then she went up to the counter to ask for a napkin” and the listener interrupts and says “Wait, she who?” Or you say something and they don’t respond, so you say it again, and they still don’t respond, so you say “Are you even listening to me?” And they look at you and go, “Oh, sorry, no, I got distracted.”

Possible actions when you get no response

But when we write messages, we have no idea how the other person receives that message until they write…