As many of us are well aware, "spamming" - the indiscriminate, unsolicited transmission of messages to a raft of addresses - is one of the most prevalent abuses of this important technology. Unethical solicitors, however, are not the only members of society who practice this misdeed. Well-intentioned or not, anytime we "cc" someone who doesn't really need to know whatever it is we wish to communicate to someone else, we are guilty of spamming.

E-Mail Abuse and Overload

The most common use for e-mail is to sustain a dialogue between two or more persons - ideally because it's the best available medium for doing so under the circumstances. But, unfortunately, e-mail is often used when face-to-face communications is both convenient and more effective - for instance, exchanging views with the person in an adjacent office or cubicle.

Because it is so easy to use and so readily available to most white collar workers, e-mail is now the most preferred method for communicating internally, according to a recent Gallup survey of Fortune 1,000 companies. Between e-mail and phone calls, the average professional in these companies handles 178 incoming and outgoing communications each day. Some managers and professionals, especially in cultures steeped in information technology, report a volume of 200 to 300 e-mail messages per day, requiring as much as two to three hours to simply sort through the messages to determine which ones should be carefully read and responded to. It's not surprising that 71 percent of the individuals in the Gallup survey said they felt overwhelmed by the volume of messages received. From the standpoint of efficiency, once the mental state of feeling "overwhelmed" sets in, the effective volume of e-mail is even more than the actual volume.

It would appear that we are saying more but communicating less - a condition that's sure to worsen in an "information rich" society. Perhaps it's time we pay attention to what marketing professionals call "share of mind." We need to recognize that information that's ineffectively managed is of no greater value than raw data.

Using E-Mail in a Project Environment

Despite the abuses, e-mail remains an important tool in the project environment. In fact, it is likely to grow in importance as project teams become more geographically dispersed. Even when project team members reside within the same facility it's becoming increasingly difficult for over-extended professionals to coordinate schedules and priorities in such a manner to facilitate face-to-face dialogue

In addition to bridging latitudes and time zones, here are some ways project teams are effectively using e-mail:

• To refine project schedules and budgets in successive iterations, often attaching files that run under a spreadsheet or software project management tool
  
• To maintain a centralized project calendar, perhaps showing the availability of people and other resources
  
• To communicate project status once the project is underway

E-mail is a powerful tool in the contemporary project environment - but it's not a panacea. As with other forms of written communication, e-mail may be unsuitable for dialogue that requires short cycles of exchange between two or more parties - for instance, in a "try-this" and "this-is-what-happened" type of exchange. It is also limited in its ability to convey inflection and subtle nuances of language, which may be particularly important when dealing with people outside of the immediate project environment, such as customers and senior managers.

Technique and Technology

While technology is rapidly advancing we are essentially having to learn-as-we-go when it comes to best practices for managing e-mail. Suffice it to say, there are things that can be done on both ends of the message - sender and receiver - to enhance the value of e-mail while holding the beast at bay.

There are also improvements in technology on the horizon that will make e-mail easier to manage on the human side of the keyboard - for instance, the ability to sort and filter messages using "natural language" commands rather than arcane computer commands. This innovation alone is encouraging when you consider that, on average, 30 hours is lost per employee per year simply because of e-mail errors, such as hitting the Send button too quickly or forgetting to attach files.

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