Don’t Let Notifications Get Lost! Ensure Critical Information is Delivered with Notification Prefixes in Email Subject Lines.
At DonGan Manufacturing, the subject lines for both approved and rejected quote notifications were identical, so the employees faced a risk of misinterpreting email notifications for quotes, potentially moving forward with quotes that had been rejected. To prevent this, we implemented a system that automatically adds a “[Rejected]” prefix to the subject line of rejection notification emails. Now, recipients can immediately understand the quote status just by looking at the subject line, effectively preventing the misidentification of approved versus rejected quotes.
*This process improvement story is fictional and not related to any real individuals or organizations.
1. Issue: Overlooking Rejected Quotes
DonGan Manufacturing is a company with approximately 200 employees that specializes in the production and sale of industrial machinery. Within its quotation approval process, a dedicated staff member prepares a quotation based on customer requirements. This quotation is then reviewed by a manager before being sent to the customer. Furthermore, quotations exceeding ¥5,000,000 require final approval by the officer in charge, ensuring the submission of highly accurate quotations.
However, a recurring issue has been the identical subject lines for both approval and rejection notifications. This has led to instances where employees mistakenly assume a quotation has been approved and proceed with related tasks. Continuing with this process risks not only wasting time and resources, but also potentially compromises the approval process’s reliability.
2. Solution: Enhance Identification by Adding Notification Prefixes to Subject Lines
The process owner implemented a system that automatically adds a “[Rejected]” prefix to the subject line of rejection notification emails. This allows recipients to immediately determine the outcome simply by viewing the email’s subject line, effectively preventing the misidentification of approved versus rejected statuses.
Before
View details of the workflow diagram
1. Quotation Creation
The responsible staff member manually inputs the quotation details.
x1. Quotation Revision
The quotation content is revised and resubmitted. If the quotation is to be discarded, “[Failed]” is automatically prefixed to its status, and the process ends.
2. Manager Review
The manager reviews the quotation content and returns it for correction if there are any deficiencies.
3. Officer Approval
The Officer in charge approves or rejects high-value quotations. The result is then communicated via email.
Approval Notification
An email is sent to notify that the quotation has been approved.
Rejection Notification
An email is sent to notify that the quotation has been rejected.
After
View details of the workflow diagram
1. Quotation Creation
The responsible staff member manually inputs the quotation details.
x1. Quotation Revision
The quotation content is revised and resubmitted. If the quotation is to be discarded, “[Failed]” is automatically prefixed to its status, and the process ends.
2. Manager Review
The manager reviews the quotation content and returns it for correction if there are any deficiencies.
3. Officer Approval
The Officer in charge approves or rejects high-value quotations. The result is then communicated via email.
Approval Notification
An email is sent to notify that the quotation has been approved.
Rejection Notification
An email is sent to notify that the quotation has been rejected. This email’s subject line will automatically include “[Rejected]”.
3. Benefits
Zero Misinterpretation of Notifications
- Now, rejection notifications for quotes are immediately identifiable, eliminating the risk of incorrect work proceeding.
Reduced Rework
- Employees can now take appropriate action without misinterpretation, leading to a reduction in unnecessary work.
Decreased Administrative Burden
- Administrators no longer need to follow up on misinterpretations of rejections, reducing the effort involved in the approval process.
*This process improvement story is fictional and not related to any real individuals or organizations.
4. Other Business Applications
Application and Approval Workflows
Prevent delays caused by misinterpretation by adding prefixes to approval and rejection notifications for expense reports and leave requests.
Customer Support
Avoid overlooked or missed responses by adding prefixes to email subject lines indicating the status of support tickets.
Project Progress Management
Prevent oversight of project progress by automatically adding prefixes to notification subject lines for task completion or deferrals.