Intake

Intake is the stage where unstructured arrivals become items. Mail threads, marketplace messages and stock alerts each become a board item with its source recorded, so that six weeks later the trace still says where the work came from rather than only what was done about it.

What gets an item and what does not

Not every message deserves a board item, and a system that makes one for each is a worse inbox with more steps. Intake creates items for arrivals that carry an implied action. A supplier confirming a date you already have does not; a supplier proposing a different date does.

• A customer asking where an order is: an item, with the order reference attached.
• A stock alert crossing a threshold you set: an item, owned by whichever agent watches that line.
• A marketing newsletter from a supplier: not an item.
• A delivery confirmation matching what was expected: not an item, but recorded against the existing one.