TEAM EMAIL / PRACTICAL BUILDING BLOCKS
The address is shared.
The responsibility is clear.
Use a simple email plan that someone else can understand when you are away.
Choose the right kind of address
Common email concepts: confirm the exact behaviour with your provider.| Building block | Useful for | Question to ask |
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| Individual mailbox | A person’s own messages and identity. | How are access and data handled when they leave? |
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| Alias | An additional address routed to a destination. | Where does it deliver, and can anyone send as it? |
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| Shared mailbox | A common message history for authorised people. | Which access, sending and licensing options are supported? |
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| Distribution group | Sending a message to several recipients. | Who can post, and where do replies and history go? |
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An address name alone does not tell you how access works. Document the selected platform’s behaviour and test it with the people using it.
Give each address a small operating plan
- Purpose: which conversations belong here?
- Owner: who approves access and keeps the plan current?
- Readers and senders: who needs each permission?
- Coverage: who responds during leave or absence?
- Recovery: who controls the account, domain and recovery routes?
- Review: when will you check that permissions are still appropriate?
Use named access where the platform supports it. Avoid making a shared password the only way the team can work. Confirm multi-factor authentication and recovery arrangements with the chosen service.
Make joining and leaving routine
For a new colleague or volunteer, approve only the access needed, explain the address’s purpose and test sending and receiving. When someone leaves, review sessions, permissions, forwarding and recovery details, and assign any ongoing conversations to another person.
Agree what information should be retained, by whom and for how long. The appropriate policy depends on your work and obligations; it should not be an accidental consequence of an abandoned mailbox.
Keep the domain in the plan
Email depends on domain control as well as the mail platform. Identify who manages renewal, DNS, the service account and authorised changes. Check mail authentication and delivery when the setup changes.