3 Bullet Points and a Hard Ask

I use this template when writing emails where I need a response from busy people (e.g. higher in the org chart than me).

It is as simple as I can make it: describe the situation in (at most) 3 bullet points and then end with a specific question. For best result, the three bullet points should describe the situation and the immediate complication that forces us to make a decision nowWill Larson suggests them SCQA framework for presenting to executives.

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It looks like this:

Sam,

• We have 2 people on the team working on the FooBar project.
• I just learned that the main customer is deferring adoption of the FooBar project for 3 months.
• From talking to the customer, the product manager, and the team I believe we may be able to safely delay the FooBar project until next quarter.

What risks should we be prepared to mitigate if we consider temporarily moving the team off the FooBar project?