Email is a great way to collect information from a group of people. An email will whip around the team, or bounce between the project and the customer, collecting information as it goes.
You, as the project manager, are often the hub of these communications, directing the flow and prompting the appropriate people to contribute.
Once an email has accumulated the information for a task, have you ever forwarded it as-is to one of your team members as the supporting information? E.g. Hi Bill, the information for Task X is in the attached email…
If so, you may have created a few problems which could easily have been avoided:
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Emails that have gathered details from a number of people can be quite lengthy, so the delegate will spend time finding the details they need to commence work.
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Some of the information may be incorrect, replaced elsewhere in the email during discussions or negotiations. Depending on where they are looking, delegates can accidentally use the wrong information.
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If you are simply forwarding emails, what value are you adding to the process? Your team will certainly ask that question as they sift through long email trails to find the information they need.
It’s not difficult or time-consuming to avoid these issues, both during information gathering and when the task is assigned.
As an email skips from recipient to recipient, periodically:
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Summarise the information so far, and identify what else is needed.
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Truncate the trail of information.
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Send it on its way again.
You’ll make it clear where the information gathering process is up to, clarify what has been gathered and highlight what needs to be contributed.
When you’ve got all the information, create a final, concise summary and provide it to the team member who’ll do the task. They’ll be able to get work straight away, using the right information.
Summarising and truncating emails will improve the efficiency of information collection and task assignments. It will also build your focusing skills and confirm your reputation as a value-adding, get-to-the-point project manager.
What could YOU do with your life if you had just a few more hours each day?
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