Project managers can manage their inbox efficiently by organizing emails into folders based on projects or teams. These folders group related emails together so messages about a specific project or from certain team members are easy to find later instead of getting cluttered in the main inbox. They can also set up filters so emails are automatically placed in the correct folder when they are received. Another idea is for the PM to check their email at scheduled times. This will allow them to make sure that they are up to date on any new mail coming in to them, reducing the chance of missing important information.
In my personal experience, Teams is much easier if you are looking for a quick response or the information is not very important where it has to be saved and logged. The last company I worked at would clear all Teams message history every two months. Obviously this would be an issue if the PM is trying to go back through chats for key information that is needed to be logged or referenced. Therefore, teams should be used for quick chats or day to day conversations, while email should be used for important information that will need to be saved for later. With this in mind, how do people know whether they should use teams or if the information they are providing is important enough for an email? This can cause issues where some information may be lost because it was not thought to be a concern at the time and the chat occurred via teams.
Project managers can manage their inbox more efficiently by organizing emails into folders and using filters to separate urgent messages from less important ones. Scheduling specific times during the day to check and respond to emails can also help reduce distractions. Clear subject lines and concise communication within the team can minimize unnecessary back-and-forth messages. I prefer communication through Teams for daily communication. Teams allows faster responses, quick meetings, and better collaboration through chats and shared files. It also reduces the number of long email threads. However, I believe emails are still important for formal communication and documentation purposes.
As an employee I prefer most important or simple communications to occur through teams. However, teams itself is not really built for a high volume of communication unless it is direct conversation, especially when multiple topics are involved as it is a single thread. Emails especially when using an email app like outlook has many tools to handle the high volume of communication. Rules and filters are one thing that I have seen mentioned. Personally, I think they are essential to managing an inbox, and a PM who is not using these features is crippling their ability to manage. Nobody needs to see OOO notifications, or random external announcements in their main inbox. Routine reports can also be auto filtered into their own designated folders. I personally believe the only emails that should show up in an inbox are nonstandard or critical emails. This can improve a PMs response time to important news, while also reducing workload by having information already half sorted and managed.
I believe PMs are struggling not only with having too many emails, but also figuring out which ones require immediate action. One way to improve managing an inbox may be creating specific guidelines around communication methods. For example, use email as your method of choice for sending formal notifications about updates, decision making and documenting all communications. Use Teams for casual questions, informal discussions. By doing this, the number of emails in your inbox will not fill up with non essential messages that could have been resolved with a quicker team discussion. In addition, by creating folders or labels in your email, PMs can rapidly locate information they need rather than spending their time scrolling through every single message.
Personally, I would likely want a combination of both email and Teams. While I think email is more formal and allows for easy tracking of correspondence at a later date, I think Teams allows for much quicker collaboration if there is a quick answer needed from the team. Do you think using only chat platforms could potentially cause communication to become chaotic, or do you think it would allow teams to stay closer together?
As a PM, one can organize their email by using folders and rules to sort through messages, set specific times in the day to respond to messages, and apply priority flags for urgent emails. They also may need to unsubscribe from non-essential lists and keep responses short and structured.
As an employee, I prefer communication through emails as it is easier for me to archive and save important material. Documentation is great in the workplace. At the same time, for more informal communication or if someone needs a response immediately, teams is preferred. Overall, both have their places, but if I had to choose one, it would be email.