subject: Give Enough Background Information [print this page] Give Enough Background Information Have you ever received a memo or email and felt like you were invited late to the party? Assumptions have been made that you know what the writer is referring to, when you dont have a clue about the context. When messages revolve through organizations and among key players, it is easy for people to fall into the notion that everyone already knows what is going on. However, if you work in a large organization, this assumption might not be valid. A new player might have just been invited to the game an outside consultant, a new hire, a new or prospective vendor and that person might not understand the shorthand the team is using or share the context of understanding that everyone else shares. That person needs the background and context for the information in the document. At the same time, the main members of the team already do know the background and the last thing they want is to have to rehash old news every time they communicate about the project. Key executives might not really care about the background; they want to know what is happening right now and what they can do about it. Whats the solution? One or two people who are familiar with the project should write a brief section labeled Background/Context. These people should be assigned the role of being the projects historians. As new developments arise, the historian adds briefly to the Background section. The Background/Context section is included at the end of every email and report. Since this section is at the end, people who are already in the loop can safely ignore it. However, those who need to get up to speed on the project will have the information they need.
