How email filing has become the backbone of quality management

Whether it’s issued drawings, scope changes, or legal disputes, emails contain valuable information that needs to be highly accessible at any given time. Email filing capabilities now allow for seamless organization and management of emails, making crucial project details easily discoverable, which is essential for quality management.  

The risks of holding emails in individual mailboxes 

When it comes to managing project risks (and therefore improving quality), prioritizing email management is crucial as a great volume of key information in a project is communicated via emails.  

However, the multitude of email exchanges among numerous stakeholders and sub-contractors often results in persistent challenges when searching for emails, and the potential growth of information silos over time.  

Whether they’re substantiating a fee claim or responding to a consultant's inquiry about a project detail, the dread of sifting through countless emails to find the necessary information is a shared experience for many AEC firms. 

The risks of information silos become more significant when crucial project information is confined in individual mailboxes. Here are some real-world scenarios that have made life difficult for some AEC firms:

• A team member is on vacation with important project-related correspondence on their personal email
• A dismissed employee has left without sharing the contents of their email
• A client or sub-contractor denies sharing information if they are involved in litigation

So, how come situations like this happen? Well, capturing the content of all employee emails used to be seen as a momentous challenge for AEC firms, with information and correspondence often being lost or deleted.  

However, this no longer needs to be the case. With email management systems that link the tip of the iceberg—email—with management of documents and drawings now available, email management no longer needs to be the laborious task it once was.

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Why email filing is the backbone of quality management

Given the critical nature of project details and design decisions communicated through emails, it's crucial for AEC firms to adopt intelligent email filing systems. Such systems may not only enhance information visibility, but also help reducing major project risks—including litigation.

An optimal email filing system should facilitate the collection of emails from individual mailboxes into group mailboxes, creating shared locations for all project-related emails. This centralized approach guarantees that information is not only more discoverable but also readily available to all project team members, fostering a collaborative environment where crucial data is at everyone's fingertips.

Email filing also allows correspondences to be stored alongside their associated documents and drawings. This helps maintain contextual relevance of communications, thereby preserving the integrity and continuity of conversations throughout the project lifecycle.

With email filing, team members can make informed decisions quickly, keeping the project on schedule and avoiding additional expenses caused by project delays.  

Having a complete, contextually relevant record of communications can also be vital in maintaining compliance with industry regulations. In the event of disputes, having an organized system of emails can help resolve issues more efficiently by providing a clear record of what was commented throughout the entire project.

Read more about some of the risks facing AEC firms here.