The headline in the Wall Street Journal blares, Missing from Work: The Chance to Think, Even to Dream a Little. The focus of the article is, "...managers are turning off, or ignoring, their e-mail in an effort to get some work accomplished."

It goes on to describe how one executive logs off e-mail "for at least two hours a day to grant herself time to write long memos and reports - and think." (Source: Wall Street Journal, In the Lead column, March 23, 2004.)

A Corporate Governance Enterprise Initiative Management (EIM)'s Issue Resolution workspace provides users a place to share ideas and collaborate with others. Comments that are placed in discussion areas do not require knee-jerk reactions to an e-mail (or just as bad, ignoring a request for assistance), but leave the initiative team members the time and opportunity to provide thoughtful responses that can be improved and built upon over time.

And when more than 2-4 individuals are working on an initiative for more than 4 weeks, e-mails do not preserve and communicate the knowledge that has been gained. Think what happens when a new person is assigned to the initiative team after the group has been working together for 2 months.

Where are those old e-mail exchanges?
In fact, where are the e-mails you sent stored?
How can you collect them, sort them by issue, and send them to the new team member?

A Corporate Governance Enterprise Initiative Management (EIM) enhances e-mail - it does not replace e-mail. We all recognize that e-mail is a primary means of communications. But e-mail by itself is not the right technology for managing complex strategic initiatives.

The Bottom Line: E-mail is a wonderful communications medium, but should never be the technology foundation for managing critical enterprise initiatives. A Corporate Governance Enterprise Initiative Management (EIM) leverages the power of e-mail for planning and executing strategic initiatives.