Aconex
Mail

Setting up your correspondence types

Properly managing correspondence ensures that all stakeholders are on the same page.

Meaningful and specific communications are key to ensuring everyone is across project requirements, schedules, changes, and other important details.

Miscommunication and missed communications are a major factor in project delays and budget overruns.

Time

60-90 Mins

Difficulty

Easy

Project Stage

Any

Using the Play

The aim is to agree on what mail types should be used and when. Having more choices is almost always a bad idea and means people are more likely to make the wrong choice.

Keep it simple and make sure you are communicating clearly and consistently.

 

This Play will...

Get you off to the right start and help you decide what mail types you need and how to get them set up.

 

Why you need this Play

Misunderstandings, inefficient decision making, lack of accountability and disputes. These are signs of poorly managed correspondence.

It's critical to make sure everyone on a project understands how they they need to communicate with each other. A big part of that is knowing what types of communication are needed.

Allowing people to do their own thing will very likely lead to confusion, delays and even penalties.

 

Who needs to be involved?

You'll need different stakeholders involved to get a holistic picture of what mail types are required. Typically, you'll need to understand the requirements of: 

1. People creating and sending mail (i.e. the initiators)

2. People checking and advising on mail (i.e. the advisors)

3. People replying to mail (i.e. the responders)

 

Be mindful of having too many opinions. Groups of 4-5 tend to work best. More people means more discussion and fewer decisions. You can get feedback on decisions made with a wider audience later on. 

 

Preparation

Before you get people together, start by checking if there are any contractual, legal or regulatory requirements regarding how you and the greater project team are required to communicate. This can help decide on the types of correspondence needed. 

Also think about previous experiences. What worked, what didn't? What caused confusion within the team?

Try not to repeat earlier mistakes. 

What you'll need...

You can run this play in-person or virtually. Whiteboards are great and easy to use in-person, but there are virtual options available via platforms like Zoom.

Whatever method you choose, make sure you capture all the decisions and ideas (e.g. photos or screen grabs) as it's easy to forget what was said even a few hours later. 

This play is easy to use and follow, but, sometimes you might need additional help or advice. That's where our Professional Services team can help you get the most from Aconex. 

Step-By-Step

  • 1Get familiar with Mail (10 mins)

    Making sure everyone is on the same page. 

    Start by watching this video that provides a simple overview of Aconex Mail. It'll help the group get on the same page and better understand what decisions need to be made.

    Then spend about 5 mins to get everyone to write down what their initial thoughts are on the types of mail they want to see on the project. At this stage anything goes. It can be a big list but it's just an initial take on what you and your team think is needed. You'll reduce it in subsequent steps.

Facilitation Tip

Have each person consider individually and then take turns to share with the group.

One person acts as scribe or note taker, capturing the full list.

  • 2Deciding what's needed (30 mins)

    Here's where you'll get into deeper discussions.

    You need to decide what types of communication (i.e. mail types) are needed on your project and/or within your team. A good starting point for discussion is to have the following reasons for communicating with the team covered as a minimum:

      1. Asking questions or requesting something
      2. Providing information or advice
      3. Providing direction or instruction

     

    Spend a few minutes on each one. Use the list you created in STEP 1 and either refine or add. Decide on your preferred single mail type for each one but keep the others on the list for now. 

     
    Other types of communications

    You may also want to discuss mail types for other processes, like Variations, Progress Claims and Non-Conformance Reports. All these processes are likely to have their own 'set' of mail types and that's okay because it will make them easier to track, manage and report on. 

     

    Something to consider

    It's not uncommon on large projects to have high volumes of correspondence.

    Depending on the size and type of project, it might be advantageous to have multiple mail types for the same purpose (e.g. asking questions). For example: if all questions use the same mail type, it might make it harder to track and report on specific types of questions.

    You might want to consider having one mail type for technical questions and another for design related questions. That will make specific reporting easier. 

Consultant Tip

If you're required to use certain types of communication (e.g. via the Contract), a lot of your decisions will be made for you.

Don't waste time discussing things you cannot change or have no real control over. 

Instead, make sure the required types are configured properly and everyone knows why and when to use them.

  • 3Reduce, reduce, reduce (10 mins)

    Time to make that list more manageable. 

    Okay. You should now have a list of mail types you think will be useful. To be clear, there are no firm right or wrong mail types. But what you we need to do now is make sure there is no room for confusion or ambiguity. That will often result in delays and mistakes. 

    Go through the list you have with the group and decide if there are any mail types that could be confused with each other. For example, if you have RFIs and TQs, they typically serve the same purpose. So why would you need both? 

    You should now have a list of mail types.

Our Recommendation

Just in case you're stuck. Here's what we recommend as a minimum:

  1. RFIs for questions
  2. Advice for providing information or advice
  3. Instruction for direction or instruction

You can also include say, General Correspondence for things that don't have any real contractual impact.

  • 4Check the mail types are available (10 mins)

    Can you have what you want? 

    There are lots of mail types available in Aconex, but every now and then, an unusual one comes up. It's worth double checking that all the mail types you need are actually available for use. 

    Follow step 5 of these instructions to browse the list of available mail types. 

    TIP: Use the search option to quickly look for the one you're after.

     

    If the mail type you want is not available, you'll need to find an alternative. If you really do need to use a mail type that's not available, then follow these instructions. 

    Finally, confirm the final list of mail types.

    That's the end of the Play.

    Next you'll get everything set up.

Contract Types

You'll find mail types for specific contracts like NEC and ICC.

They have a prefix that specific to that contract. For example: the (ECC) Client Communication mail type is for the NEC Engineering and Construction Contract.

Next Steps

Now it's time to get your mail types set up and added to your project. 

  • 1Document your decisions

    Now you've done the hard work, it's time to document it. Yes, we know that's not very interesting, but if nothing's documented, the project team can easily claim ignorance when it comes to what mail types they should be using. 

    Here's a table showing what it might look like (we've added a few more in addition to our earlier recommendation):

     

    Mail Type & Description of Use CL PM CN MC SC
    Client Advice
    For the Client to provide advice and/or respond to requests or queries.
    yes
    no
    no
    no
    no
    Client Instruction
    For the Client to provide direction or instruction as appropriate.
    yes
    no
    no
    no
    no
    Consultant Advice
    For the Consultants to provide advice and/or respond to requests or queries.
    no
    no
    yes
    no
    no
    Design Query
    For the Client, PM and Design team to raise queries relating to the design.
    yes
    yes
    yes
    no
    no
    General Correspondence
    For informal communications between project participants.
    yes
    yes
    yes
    yes
    yes
    PM Advice
    For the Project Manager to provide advice and/or respond to requests or queries.
    no
    yes
    no
    no
    no
    PM Instruction
    For the Project Manager to provide direction or instruction as appropriate.
    no
    yes
    no
    no
    no
    Request for Information
    For the Head Contractor and Subcontractor to raise construction queries.
    no
    no
    no
    yes
    yes
    Site Instruction
    For the Head Contractor to issue instructions to a Subcontractor.
    no
    no
    no
    yes
    no
    CL 
    Client
    PM 
    Project Manager
    CN 
    Consultant
    MC 
    Main Contractor
    SC 
    Subcontractor

     

    This list is a good set of mail types and will provide clarity and ease of reporting. That's what you should aim for.

    In addition, we can use Mail Rules to specify which mail types are used for starting a mail thread, and those used for replying and forwarding. This means fewer mistakes as it's easier to choose the right mail type. 

     

  • 2Getting the mail types set up and configured

    All you need to do is follow the steps to get your project configured with the agreed mail types. 

    Note: You will need to be a Project Admin to add and assign mail types.


    1. Add the relevant mail types to the relevant roles.

    2. Then, assign the role to the organizations or companies that need to create and send the specific mail types.

    3. If you need to create a new role, follow these instructions and then add the relevant mail types to the new role. 

     

    It's always a good idea to double-check everything and make sure each role has the right mail types assigned. 

That's it! You've now decided what mail types are important for you and your team, and set them up in Aconex. 

You're now ready for clear and consistent project communication.

Resources

Some useful and related links to help you with this Play.