10 to 20 minutes
Explain the purpose of the activity and write it down on the board or mind map.
Give them 5 minutes to work in teams and compose a short, simple email for the focused communication.
When the time is up, ask each facilitator to read their email, and let the others give comments, and add your own when necessary. Remind them that the message has to be clear, simple, and purposeful, and help them avoid corporate language.
This is a sample text:
Hello everyone,
I’m glad to let you know that the ArtoLibre@Artopolis project is approved and we’re going to start executing it.
This project is aligned with the government’s ArtoLibre initiative for replacing as many of the proprietary applications in the public sector with libre alternatives, to improve security, privacy, portability, etc.
We’re going to do the same, for the same benefits that the government has in mind, as well as increase the compatibility of our systems with those of the public sector.
The project will take about 30 months, during which time applications will be replaced in 5 waves, starting with simple ones like the email clients, and ending with specialist ones like the CAD and 3D modelling applications.
This is a big change, and there will be a period of discomfort until we all get used to the new applications. However, we’ll do our best to make sure it goes as well as possible, and that after a while the overall ecosystem will be better that what we have at this time.
There are representatives from every department in our project team to make sure your needs are covered. However, if you have any concerns, feel free to contact me directly and talk about it.
Regards,
Project manager’s signature