We’re no longer a group of 8 sitting around a table hashing things out. We’re a partnership of 19. It’s hard getting the group together in one place to talk about department and partnership issues.
How do we keep everyone up to speed?
How do we make informed decisions?
We’re using a lot of email. It’s an excellent way to update and get things done. But it has its problems.
1. Writing in the past.
There’s always one person who’s three days behind in the discussion. They reply on a busy email thread and everyone thinks “Dude, that was 3 days ago! Keep up.”
They skipped previous emails and jumped to the present. It’s not that the points made by the late responders are superfluous. Their comments may be key. But the discussion starts over again. Again.
2. Tangents.
In the beginning it was an email discussion of consultant coverage. Then it it transitioned to personal anecdotes about specific consultants. Then a joke. Now, it’s a discussion about investing in real estate.
Tangents can be easy to redirect in a meeting. They are difficult to control in an asynchronous email conversation.