Dear Jeremy,

I’m a Blue and I struggle in communicating effectively with my Red boss via email. I know that he only wants a high level overview of things without much detail. The problem is that I feel if I don’t communicate the details and he ends up needing more information, he’ll be upset with me for not giving him what he needed. Do you have any suggestions for me?

Yours truly,

Doug

==========

Dear Doug,

Thanks so much for your question. Red-Blue communication definitely has some interesting dynamics associated with it, and you hit the nail on the head when describing the problem. The Red wants bullet points, and the Blue doesn’t feel like they’ve done a thorough job unless they can communicate all the details. Some Blues may actually feel irresponsible, guilty, misunderstood, and/or worrisome if they are not able to fully communicate the details.

The good news is, I can fix this for you…and it’s probably going to be a lot easier than you may think!

The solution is really not all that complicated. The next time you email your Red boss, here’s what you do:

Step 1: Write out your email as you normally would—with all the details.

Step 2: Go back to the top of the email and write something like this:

Subject line: “Info you requested on [x topic].”

Body copy (before your full version of the information):

“The 3 most important bullet points are here at the top in case you are short on time. If you want more detail, a more thorough analysis follows.”

Your original email follows.

And that, my friend, is a Win-Win. 🙂

You have to understand that 95% of the time, your boss will stop reading your email after the 3 bullet points. That’s okay, though, because: A) It’s all he wants anyway. B) The 5% of the time he does read the extra detail, he will be glad that it’s there. C) Even when he doesn’t read it, he knows that you are on top of things and appreciates the fact that you take care of the details, because he certainly doesn’t want to. D) You can sleep at night because you know that you’ve covered your bases and that he can never be upset with you, because all of the details were actually there and he will know that he made the choice to not read more.

It’s a very simple solution, but trust me, it will work extremely well for both of you.

Very best of living,

Jeremy Daniel
Training Director
Color Code International

Jeremy Daniel (Core Color: Yellow) has been working with the Color Code since 1998 in various capacities from training in the field personally with Dr. Taylor Hartman to designing customized corporate solutions and new training programs for various industries.  To ask about Jeremy’s training or speaking services, please email and inquiry to jeremy@colorcodetraining.com.