E-Mail
One place where project information must often ultimately be transferred is into an
e-mail. E-mail is another vital application for projectmanagers, because it allows for
the asynchronous transfer of information from the project team to others inside
or outside the team, either en masse or singly. The ubiquity of e-mail and its
widespread acceptance places it among (if not the) dominant media for project com-
munications. E-mail is a powerful medium, but it is not without problems, the least
of which is the virtual sea of detritus downloaded in the form of mass advertising,
which can sometimes drown out the important messages.
E-mail protocols should be carefully outlined in the project communications
plan (Chapter 4) to ensure that project messages are elevated to visibility and to
ensure that project team members have a consistent vision as to what information is
appropriately transferred (and, as a result, maintained) by this medium and what
information is not. Considerations that should be outlined in the project communi-
cations plan relating to e-mail include the following:
• Appropriate/inappropriate language and/or areas of discussion;
• Subject line protocols and practices;
• Carbon-copy and “blind” carbon-copy practices (for both the initial “send” as
well as the reply);
• Document retention procedures.
If not effectively controlled, e-mail can become a weak communications
medium, not because of a lack of use, but because of misuse and misunderstanding
of the tool