The Ultimate Guide To Email Project Management

Want to learn about email project management?

Email project management helps project managers and teams work more efficiently by allowing them to communicate and work within their email inboxes.

However, sorting through tons of emails for your project management sounds like something that’d make you want to pull out your hair. 🤯

If only there is a tool that could swoop you away from the misery…

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s an email project management tool!

Email project management tools turn inboxes into collaborative workspaces, saving valuable time, and boosting team efficiency.

But what’s the best email project management tool for you?

Don’t worry, we’re swooping in to help. 🦸

In this article, we’ll cover what email project management is, the best tool for Gmail and Outlook project management, as well as the benefits of email project management.

This Article Contains:

Let’s go.

What Is Email Project Management?

Email project management involves using your email inbox to manage projects. This includes using it to create and assign tasks, manage deadlines, and task-specific communication.

But email clients like Gmail and Outlook aren’t designed for project management, right?

No, they aren’t. That’s why you have email-based project management tools!

With email-based project management software, you can track tasks, communicate with team members and external stakeholders, and even add to-do lists all through your email.

After all, how far can snail mail get you?

And while our good friends Gmail and Outlook aren’t actually built for project management, email project management software helps bridge that gap.

Let’s find out how…

A. Gmail project management

Gmail can let you turn emails into tasks, but only with the help of a dedicated project management tool that integrates with Google Apps.

Here’s what else you can do with Gmail project management:

Add team members to a Groups email list, so everyone in the team receives updates through one email address
Use shared calendars for project updates and meeting schedules
Store your documents in a secure shared drive
Automatically categorize important emails using Google’s priority inbox
Use Google Meet’s built-in screen sharing
Use Google Docs & Google Sheets to collaborate in real-time and chat within files
Use Google Forms to create and share online surveys and forms
Use version control to revert to previous Doc versions without losing information
Track and collaborate on tasks by using a Gantt chart in Google Sheets
You can even connect Alexa & Google Assistant and speak your to-do list!

B. Outlook project management

With Outlook’s built-in project management tools, your team will have a better outlook on their responsibilities. Microsoft Outlook lets you create tasks with reminders, due dates, and to-do lists without additional software.

However, with a dedicated Outlook project management tool, you can also:

Add project tasks to a shared calendar for task tracking
Use the consolidation feature to collate emails, contact info, and appointments
Automatically group emails according to the project they belong to
Use the journal for project planning
Assign tasks to project team members
Track billable and total time spent on a project
Export data to different file formats
Have project meetings with Microsoft Teams

To sum up, as a standalone project management tool, Outlook barely makes the cut.

It’ll be like baking a cake with a toaster. You could try, but that’s not the best way, right?

It’s best to go for an Outlook-supported project management tool that can offer you far more functionality.

Bonus: Email Alternatives!

What To Look For In An Email Project Management Tool?

There are many email project management tools to choose from, but to find the best one for your team, consider which features you need, and the email marketing KPIs you want to track.

Some essential features of an email project management app include:

Email integration
Planning and scheduling
Team collaboration
Task creation

Let’s check out these features quickly:

1. Email integration

You can’t have an email project management tool without an email integration, right?

The tool you choose must integrate with popular platforms, like Gmail or Outlook.

Two-way integration also ensures that updates on your project management tool show up on your personal email account.

It’ll help your team be this NSYNC (in sync, get it?)

2. Planning and scheduling

Email project management is mostly about project planning. So it goes without saying that the tool you choose must have planning and scheduling features.

It should let you assign tasks to team members, set deadlines, and organize project tasks via emails.

Check out these email productivity tools!

3. Team collaboration

The ideal email project management software should let you add comments via email to a task. Whatever you type or attach in the email is automatically added as a comment for that specific task.

Additionally, built-in chat rooms give your team a personalized space to have task-specific discussions. @mentions are also a must-have feature in any email project management tool because it helps you quickly notify specific team members to take action.

Don’t worry, you’ll receive email alerts for all these updates and more!

For some helpful team collaboration tips, check out this post!

4. Task creation

The email project management app must let you create tasks through your email. You should be able to add attachments, due dates, and task descriptions all at once.

Yeah, that’s right, say goodbye to the “I didn’t get your email” and “I forgot about your email” responses!

The Best Email Project Management Tool: ClickUp

Most teams start and end their days with emails, so it’s no surprise that project managers need an excellent email-based project management solution.

And that’s why you should use ClickUp, the perfect email project management software for any team.

ClickUp is the world’s leading project management tool.

From creating unlimited projects to tracking in-house or remote team productivity, ClickUp provides teams with everything that they need to manage even the most complex project.

Here’s why ClickUp is the best email project management software

Picture ClickUp as Robin and your emails as Batman.

Robin, aka ClickUp, keeps your emails from venturing to the dark side:

(cue Batman’s voice)

“the side of lost emails and team confusion.”

And here’s how that happens:

1. Send and receive emails directly from tasks

How much time would you save if you could instantly send or reply to emails right alongside relevant work — without ever having to change tabs?

With Email in ClickUp, you can do exactly that!

Send and receive email messages directly from ClickUp tasks
Add attachments, Forms, templated responses, and more
Organize your email conversations as Comments or Threaded Comments
Set up email Automations for drip campaigns and newsletters based on events within ClickUp

For example, you could assign emails to team members, collaborate on sends and replies, and trigger automations based on Custom Fields, customer events, and even bug tracking. The possibilities are almost limitless!

Integrating your emails with ClickUp helps you:

Save time (no more tabbing back and forth)
Keep communications organized
Maintain visibility across email conversations

ClickUp currently supports Outlook, IMAP, Office 365, and Gmail. All emails you send from ClickUp will look as if it was sent directly from your email — no weird forwarding addresses!

2. Create tasks from email

ClickUp’s email project management features let you create tasks by sending or forwarding emails to Lists in ClickUp.

The task will be created with details like:

The task name will be added as your email’s subject line
The email’s body will be added as the task description
Assign tasks using tags like <assign me>, <assign example@email.com>, <tag tag_name> in the subject line. Add as many assignees or tags as you want!
The attachments within the email (including images) will be automatically included as task attachments
Use the <due date & time> tag in the subject line to add task deadline

3. Comment and attach files

Want to add extra info or an attachment to an existing task?

Send or forward an email to that task and the comment will appear within the task along with the attachment.

If you’re wondering about images and designs, ClickUp captures the HTML email in its entirety, so your content will look good as new.

Don’t worry, graphic designers, we’ve got your back!

4. Reply to notifications

ClickUp’s email project management software lets you reply to notifications about ClickUp tasks.

Just respond to the notification email with the email ID associated with your ClickUp account and the response will be added as a comment along with any attachments.

How’s that for convenience? 😉

5. Email forwarding automation

If you’re Mr. Popular and receive tons of emails, you can manage multiple projects by creating an email forwarding automation rule.

The feature automatically creates tasks for you when a new email pops into your inbox.

After all, Batman has better things to do than deal with countless emails, right?

6. Gmail and Outlook integrations

Remember, without Gmail and Outlook integrations, an email project management app is simply useless.

Sorta like how Batman and Robin can’t fight villains without their gadgets (and iconic suits, of course).

That’s why ClickUp offers powerful Gmail and Outlook integrations, making email project management a piece of cake.

You can:

Create tasks from the comfort of your Gmail or Outlook account
Instantly turn emails into tasks
Attach emails to tasks
Upload email attachments to the task automatically

7. Add tasks on the go

ClickUp lets you save tasks and list addresses to your contact book with ease. This way, you can add tasks and comments from emails to your task list with a single click during your coffee break. 🍵

8. A powerful Chrome extension

Want to take control of your inbox?

Use ClickUp’s powerful Chrome extension!

The extension lets you create tasks from emails and even attach entire emails to tasks.

View, jump back, or download your emails with ease!

For managing projects and tasks efficiently, the ClickUp Chrome extension also lets you:

Track how long tasks take
Capture, edit, and attach screenshots
Clip websites and add them to ClickUp tasks or docs

But these aren’t all that ClickUp has in store for you!

Besides an awesome free plan, this email project management software also offers several other features like:

50+ Task Automations: automate recurring tasks and streamline your workflow
Dashboard: build your own project dashboard with customizations like Velocity, Burnup, Burndown, and Cumulative Flow charts and share it with your entire team
Mind Maps: visualize tasks and plan projects and ideas with ease
Custom Fields: create a custom field for content creation, recruitment, sales, and more
Templates: use a ready-made template to get ahead on any specific project
Multiple Views: choose how you want to view projects using views like Timeline, Workload, Kanban board, and more
Customized Task Statuses: create a project status according to your needs
Task Priorities: create task prioritizations based on urgency
Task Dependencies: help your team complete tasks in the right order
Custom Access Rights: share your ClickUp workspace with a stakeholder without compromising on privacy

It’s like being a kid in a candy store; there’s just so many sweet features to try out!

What Are the Benefits Of Email Project Management?

Apart from helping teams communicate and work in a centralized space, other benefits of email project management software are:

Centralized info hub
Minimal learning curve
Streamlines communication
Effective task delegation
Saves time

1. Centralized info hub

Email project management tools provide teams with a space where they can easily access and store project information. Team members, project tasks, and progress… all stored in one centralized area.

Know what this means?

You no longer have to switch between a million tabs just to find something you need! 😍

2. Minimal learning curve

Email-based project management tools are easy to navigate because they basically add an extra layer over your original inbox.

Team members can adapt quickly and it won’t take long to integrate the tool into your regular workflow.

Want to learn how to better manage workflows? Read our in-depth guide here.

3. Streamlines communication

With email project management software, every team member and project manager will have a streamlined way of communicating with each other.

Moreover, most project management tools have chat rooms that provide teams with a more personalized space for effective communication.

Team members are more likely to engage and respond in this environment and who doesn’t love good ol’ emoticons to help get your points across? 😁

4. Effective task delegation

You get a task, you get a task, everyone gets a task!

With task creation and assignment via email, there will be less team confusion because everyone’s tasks are perfectly laid out for them.

No need to email a team member and CC half the company for updates on a task.

Simply open your project management app to see the project progress!

5. Saves time

With email project management software, you no longer have to channel your inner Dr. Evil, trying to figure out ways to destroy that long email chain!

How?

Project management tools help you save time by getting rid of long email chains, paper trails, and document sorting.

As all company and project-related documents are stored in one place, your project team won’t have to spend hours completing admin tasks anymore; hooray! 🥳

Conclusion

While you can always stick to your old school inbox, it doesn’t give you a centralized data hub or the ability to track tasks, progress, and deadlines.

However, with the right email project management tool, you’ll be able to do that and so much more.

If you’re looking for the ultimate email project management tool to take your task management to the next level, then look no further than ClickUp.

With features ranging from email integration to automated task creation, ClickUp helps teams manage even the most difficult projects with ease.

Get ClickUp for free today and harness the power of email project management!