Ask yourself this: How do you (and your business) manage commercially sensitive information spread across inboxes? For most of the people we speak to, they either don’t, or only manage some of the information within. Neither is suitable or risk-adverse in the data rich world of today. In many cases, it's not compliant either.
Following the global pandemic, today’s employees are increasingly working remotely and disputes are becoming more prominent as projects get delayed. Reducing risk is vital for the very survival of many AEC firms.
Being able to efficiently capture and manage all correspondence, and making that information accessible to all so no-one is left out of the communication loop, is vital to avoid delays and project risk. And many of these risks lie within the chaos of project emails.
So, how do you manage the risk of today?
Disconnected sites
Typically, there is an information gap between the office and site work. Add on top of that different offices, teams and remote working, and it's easy to see how a collaboration and information visibility issue can arise. The problem is, Document Management systems only address half the problem.
Why? Because email is the most used communication tool on a project, meaning the context of a project is within your inbox. And while most Document Management systems are typically good for storing drawings and designs, they aren't good at capturing the ‘why’ of a project.
Here's the cost of incomplete document management:
- Delays
- Budget overruns
- Rework
- Dispute risk
- Poor productivity
- Siloed data and information
- Disjointed comms loops
The stats speak for themselves. We know that for the majority of businesses, over 80% of project and client correspondence is via email. However, almost 90% of businesses are concerned about project information not being readily available, and not being visible, while only 1 in 10 are confident with finding project information. And 99% of businesses have had to retrieve emails from a past project before.
Integrating email into your information management strategy
Every business has OCD filers and filing outlaws. While documents and drawings are normally managed better, emails are the one thing everyone manages differently.
Regardless of if you want to file to something else, integrating email into your project management helps:
- Mitigate risk
- Close the communication loop
- Save time
- Deal with employees leaving
- Connect site teams with back office
- Understand, predict and rectify issues before they arise
Integrating email into your project management helps mitigate project risk, close the communication loop, save time, deal with employees leaving, and connect site teams to your back office. To find out more, watch our webinar with Built Environment Network below.
.Get a free trial of Mail Manager below to find out how the likes of Gensler, Skanska, Ramboll, Arup and Royal HaskoningDHV have made email a powerful ally in disputes and enabling project teams to do more with less.
