Manager demands new hire employee write shorter reports, employee complies: 'He came to my desk. In person. To discuss the report'

Author image for Brad Dickson
Brad Dickson • Managing Editor
Mar 21, 2026 12:00 PM EDT

After being told his detailed logistics reports were too long and full of "fluff," a coordinator took the feedback literally, prompting his manager to storm over to his desk for more details on his latest report, which ended up being longer and took longer than their original reports had.

You might think at first glance that the more information, the more detail, the better. And you'd be right to think so.

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  • 01

    My manager told me to write shorter reports. So I did.

    For context: I work in logistics coordination. Every week I submit a report summarizing what happened with our shipments, delays, carrier issues, that kind of thing. My reports were usually around a page, maybe a page and a half. Detailed, clear, everything you needed to know.
    via DuneParallax
  • 02
    Cheezburger Image 10617387520
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    The image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 03
    Three weeks into my new job my manager pulled me aside and said, and I quote: "your reports are good but they're too long, cut out the fluff, nobody has time to read all that." Okay. Fine. No fluff.
    via DuneParallax
  • 04
    The next week I submitted this: "Week 34: All shipments delivered. Two delays resolved. One carrier changed. No outstanding issues."
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  • 05
    That's it. That was the report. Every single thing in it was accurate. Nothing was missing in terms of facts. Were there nuances? Sure. Did the delayed shipment involve a fairly heated call with a vendor that probably needed documenting? Technically yes. But he said no fluff, and vendor drama felt like fluff to me.
    via DuneParallax
  • 06
    He responded within four minutes asking me to "elaborate a little." So I added the word "successfully" before "resolved." "Week 34: All shipments delivered. Two delays successfully resolved. One carrier changed. No outstanding issues."
    via DuneParallax
  • 07
    He came to my desk. In person. To discuss the report. We talked for twenty minutes. I took notes. The notes were longer than any report I had ever written. I now submit the same one- page reports as before. He hasn't mentioned the length since. I elaborated on nothing else and he did not ask me to.
    via DuneParallax

  • But there's this thing about information. You have to be able to record it, process it, and store it, and when it comes to its usefulness, someone has to take the time to read and understand it. To process it and apply it. For this reason, when it comes to an overbearing micromanager, by far the easiest way to handle their requests for ever-encroaching oversight is to flood them, drown them, with information.

    Still, there is a time and a place for information, and knowing how to communicate with brevity without removing any necessary details is a skill in and of itself. 

    This logistics coordinator was accustomed to submitting detailed weekly reports outlining shipment statuses, delays, and carrier issues. Only three weeks into their new role, their manager criticized the detailed nature of their reports, probably frustrated at the fact that they had to read and remember all of those details, and that if anything went wrong, they'd actually have to be responsible for them and not blame their subordinate for not giving them the information to start with.

    They demanded that the reports be shorter. Taking this feedback literally, the logistics coordinator submitted an extremely concise report containing the absolute bare minimum.

    The lack of detail in this report prompted their manager to come storming over to their desk, demanding more elaboration. This began a face-to-face discussion over details that took way longer than their previous report had at all. 

    From then on, their original reports resumed, and their manager never raised the issue again.

  • 08
    9602 359 Budget Planner
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    The image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 09
    ogregreenteam I once had a manager tell me to save time and write shorter emails. I told her to show me where there's any fluff in my emails, I'm an electronics engineer - I'll show her what'll get broken if I leave out anything she suggests. So later when she drafted my performance review to say I don't tolerate fools... I asked her to give me an example of one...
    via DuneParallax
  • 10
    NightMgr As a security guard, I would write "all secure." I was told that was too little. So I cataloged every door checked and every hall walked. I'd confirm the fire extinguishers were there and had a chrage, the smoke detectors were unobscured, the alarm panel status.
    via DuneParallax
  • 11
    This was fine except I did include issues. So, when we had a fire inspection and there were extinguishers without a charge and it made the company look bad, my "manager" had to admit he was not reading any of the reports. The fact those were empty had been a daily item for months.
    via DuneParallax
  • 12
    Shepsonj I had a boss who consistently came back to me about memos I had written to him. (Note: pre- email, hand written memos; yes, I'm that old). There was always some detail I hadn't included. It began to irk me that he always found something missing, even if
    via DuneParallax
  • 13
    wasn't pertinent to the request. So the next time I needed something, I composed an extremely lengthy memo. It included absolutely everything related to the subject, plus some other not so pertinent facts, just in case. It should have been
    via DuneParallax
  • 14
    in hard cover. If he had been smarter, he would have picked up on the sarcasm, but there was no way he was going to find anything missing this time! And yet, he turned up at my desk with my memo in hand. I thought, what could he possibly find missing?
    via DuneParallax
  • 15
    He said, "I got your memo. Thanks. I don't understand what you want." My request was lost in the forest of details. I didn't change my memo writing habits but he stopped coming back to me. I guess I had spoiled his fun. Idiot.
    via DuneParallax
  • 16
    Arev_Eola Reports resolved. No. outstanding issues.
    via DuneParallax
  • 17
    kindquail502 A newspaper reporter was repremainded for his lengthy reports. His next assignment was about a death at a skyscraper. His story went: Man looked up elevator shaft to see if the elevator was coming down. It was. Funeral tomorrow
    via DuneParallax

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