6 Ingredients of a Request

You make requests and expect it to get addressed as best and as soon as possible. You then wait endlessly and go medieval on the state of humanity—as to why the F&*% are humans not willing to serve others and live in harmony. All this while you have five requests in your inbox since the last two weeks, which you’ve ignored because it was a wee bit inconvenient to address (or respond to).

I am talking about basic requests, such as seeking some kinda help, requesting a job referral or feedback, or simply asking someone to do their jobs.

An order, a pitch, a request

A request becomes an order when it comes from your superior/boss. This request usually gets addressed (for obvious reasons).

A request becomes a pitch if the requestee IS NOT obliged to fulfil your request, for example, I am not obliged to refer you to that job role or introduce you to that someone who is your potential client.

A request is just what it is, a request, if the requestee IS obliged to do your work, for example, I am obliged to answer queries about the tech platform I manage or my partners are obliged to clarify my questions as we both have a shared goal (product launch).

We’ve found it very difficult to get all the above (order, pitch, request) honoured appropriately. These problems are primarily due to (1) the two parties not having a shared goal (2) low levels of commitments (3) basic communication & process flaws.

#1 and #2 are fixes needed at an organizational level, however, #3 is a hygiene issue that can be fixed if we understand the basics of an effective request. That is, we need to help our teams understand that they own the request and it is upon them to make it as easy as possible for their requestee to serve them.

Six ingredients of a request

I, for one, make requests all the time and I’ve come to believe that even as little as 5% improvement in getting-my-requests-honoured will result in huge productivity boosts in my organization & teams. And, as an erstwhile entrepreneur trying to woo talent and investors in the market, I understood the difference between an effective request vs an ineffective request. And, why spending an hour articulating a complex request is always justified.

Experientially, I’ve learned that requests get addressed favourably when they have the following ingredients in it:

• Clarity: Is it crystal-clear as to what is being asked
• Context: Is there enough information to probe the request further
• Brevity: Is it short, scannable, & to-the-point
• Ease: Is it reasonable & easy enough for the requestee to address
• Shared Goal: What’s in it for the requestee
• Urgency: Why now? Why can it not be parked for later (a.k.a never)

Several of us suck at making a request with the above 6 ingredients, which is why our requests do not get addressed.

Usual Suspects

Reiterating, we don’t need any specialist communication skills to make an effective request, however, there are some key email communication flaws that I’ve seen a lot of us make. These, if corrected, can immediately raise our chances of getting our requests addressed.

They thought someone else will answer it

When requesting a group (email alias), we forget to make an effort to find out exactly who can address our request, so we request “no one” or “everyone”.

When we address no-one or all — the chances of that request getting ignored is very high because no-one may reply thinking that “someone else in the group will reply to it”. The best way to navigate this situation is to find out who can address the request and specifically address them in the email, or at least address the next-best guy who can deflect your request to the right guy/team.

You asked them to move mountains over an email

If you are requesting an investigation on an issue that is too complex to explain or solve over an email, you’ll see that people park your request for later and then gradually forget it. So, be clear & reasonable about the request you are making. You don’t request some to investigate something really big and complex, instead, you request “a meeting” to initiate that investigation.

You are a one-trip kinda guy, and you scared them

I want things to be done in one go, which is why I use to draft lengthy requests so that the other party doesn’t have to get back about any clarification or a “follow-up” question.

I’d make a small request and add 10 paragraphs worth of details that the other party may or may not require.

Unknowingly, I was scaring the requestee away because their first impression of my request was that “it will take a long time to review and address this request, so let me do it later (a.k.a never)”.

Later, I learned that the crip request with hyperlink would keep the overall request crip, Or even better, I could make use of section headings “Problem” “Solution” “Request” “Why is it urgent” that is easily-scannable.

They did not know the “how”, so they ignored it

Mostly, we know how best the requestee can help us out and yet we fail to propose that short explanation in our request. The requestee ignores the email because they don’t see a clear & easy way to help us out, which is why they ignore the request.

I don’t see the severity, hence didn’t prioritize it

Sometimes people have a lot of work on their plate and accomodating our request is just too cumbersome. That’s why it is essential to educate them about any “Shared Goal” and “Urgency” so that the requestee has a chance to prioritize this request over other existing requests.

Sorry, missed your request

A follow-up could have helped. Frankly, if the requestee missed it or ignored it, and you too forgot to follow-up on the request after a few days, then the request wasn’t that important to either of you.

I hope you learned a thing or two (actually six) about why certain requests get addressed immediately and some do not. Disclaimer: All views are personal, none should be attributed to my employers and affiliations. If any concerns, please raise it at [email protected].