The challenge

Enspire’s project-based correspondence was being held back by the lack of search functionality within Microsoft Outlook. This meant that team members couldn’t access information unless they were included in correspondence or emails were specifically saved into the correct job folder.

Cameron said: “Management of emails is really important for our business because we're project-based and we use Microsoft and Office 365. However, it doesn't really have a solution for project-based people to have access to everyone's emails on the project.

“That meant we couldn’t get visibility of projects. We’re all very aware of how much everyone uses email and how much important data is actually in it. Furthermore, if someone left the business then we could potentially lose vital information.”

Enspire, therefore, needed a tool that would improve the visibility of their projects and enhance the management of emails across the business.

Decision process

Cameron already knew about the Mail Manager tool, having implemented it at a previous organisation. After establishing Enspire, he researched various products and whittled it down to a few options then, after going a few months with no email management tool, opted for Mail Manager as the team and all three directors knew how it worked and trusted it.

“The key thing about Mail Manager is just the simplicity of it,” Cameron explained. “It's very easy to use, it's focused and intuitive, and it does exactly what we want it to do.”

The results

Every single incoming and outgoing project-related email is now managed by Mail Manager. As Cameron puts it: “Not one email is left. That's our rule.”

Mail Manager is used across Enspire’s workforce of 20 employees, most of whom are comfortable with it as they also worked with the technology previously. But it’s also simple for new starters to quickly pick up. Cameron said: “They pick it up really easily. Firstly, because the program is so intuitive and easy to use with prompts and predictive filing. And also because we've got a fairly detailed and structured onboarding process that includes training people on Mail Manager and explains the importance of things like prompt and predict.”

Cameron works remotely to his team and on a different timezone, which presents its own project management challenges. “If I need an email that I know someone has sent but I wasn't copied on, I don't have to wait for them to wake up to find it. I can just go to the search tool and find it. Without that functionality, I'd lose a lot of time.

“There are many examples where I've had to go searching for emails when people are asleep. For example, if I’ve asked someone to copy me in on something that I knew was critical but I didn't receive the email, I can search to find whether the email was sent it or not. If it was, then I'm maybe a bit annoyed they didn't CC me on it, but I’m happy that I can easily confirm the job is done without waking them up.”

Mail Manager is also highly valuable in these times of email overload. Cameron estimates that one employee would spend one hour per day for two weeks trying to manage a full inbox, which equates to around $1,500 - which would be doubled for a director. Mail Manager removes this potential loss by ensuring emails are immediately filed to the appropriate server location.

Another key factor for Enspire is the integrity of its suppliers. As Cameron explains: “It’s really important for us to work with providers that understand our business. We always check where the software that we purchase and we use in the business comes from and who's developing it because we want to make sure they understand our needs.”