The call was made on page four of a long thread with an outdated subject line. Write the decision once in a channel, in a sentence your team can search.
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How a decision gets lost in email
Email delivers messages well. It is harder to use as a record of what the team decided.
An outdated subject line
The decision is about pricing, and the subject still says logo.
People added late
New recipients reply to the last message and miss what came before.
Search that depends on who was copied
You can only find the thread if it reached your inbox.
A channel the team can open
Put the decision in the project channel so the whole team can open it.
One sentence written as the call
For example: We will bill annually starting May. Jordan owns the notice.
A pin for the current rule
Pin the message while it is in force and unpin it when something replaces it.
How to rescue this week's thread
Start with the thread people are still replying to.
1. Open the active thread
Pick the one the team still uses to ask what was decided.
2. Write the decision in one message
Post it in the channel in your own words, checked against the thread.
3. Point the email at that message
Reply with a short note: decided in the project channel, notes continue there.
4. Mention the owner
A mention gives the decision an owner as well as an archive.
What can stay in email
Outside parties and formal letters belong in email. Internal decisions belong where the team can search them.
Customers can still email you
Bring the outcome of the internal discussion into a channel and keep the customer thread for the customer.
The channel is the record
A decision written as a sentence turns up in search.
The deciding file comes along
Attach the file under the decision message.
Decisions in email FAQ
What to move and what to leave in the inbox.
Keep email for outside parties and formal letters. Record internal decisions in a channel.
The decision, the owner of the next step, and the specific nouns someone would search for. A message that only says sounds good gives search nothing to find.
Leave it in the thread. If the reasoning will be questioned later, add a couple of sentences of why under the decision.