{"id":1563,"date":"2013-07-10T11:45:39","date_gmt":"2013-07-10T09:45:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/02086ee2.kundenrechner.net\/?p=1563"},"modified":"2014-01-10T09:57:46","modified_gmt":"2014-01-10T08:57:46","slug":"motivating-people-using-emails-within-a-virtual-environment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/de\/motivating-people-using-emails-within-a-virtual-environment\/","title":{"rendered":"Motivating People: Using Emails Within a Virtual Environment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Motivating people isn’t easy no matter what position you hold in the company. There is an old Japanese proverb which says \u2018the bamboo that bends is stronger than the oak that resists.\u2019<\/p>\n

A common mistake<\/span><\/h3>\n

I was reminded of this recently when working with a client who was responsible for communicating a company-wide change. He needed colleagues in three different global locations to log in to an existing system and perform a task before the system could be replaced with a different, better tool.\u00a0 It would take them 5 minutes. The most efficient way to communicate this request? Email of course. Easy he thought\u2026.wrong I\u2019m afraid.
\nThe first email he sent was a masterpiece of clarity and politeness. It laid out beautifully what was changing and how. The instructions were clear and easily understandable, (even when put through an online translator tool and back. Trust me, he tested that). There were six weeks until the deadline for the switch to the new tool, plenty of time.<\/p>\n

The countdown began\u2026.
\nFour weeks before the deadline and two reminder emails later – only 54% of colleagues had carried out the request\u2026.
\nThree weeks before and another reminder, 61%….
\nTwo weeks before and another reminder about the reminders, 69%….
\nOne week before the deadline, another two slightly less polite but very clear reminders and still only 82% of his colleagues had carried out the request.
\nWhy weren\u2019t his colleagues more motivated to make the change? There was time for one last email, and this is when he came and saw me.
\n\u2018What\u2019s wrong with my English?\u2019 he asked me. \u2018Nothing\u2019 I said. \u2018You\u2019ve told them what will happen, you\u2019ve simplified the technical language so even I can understand it and your instructions are clearer than those for an IKEA flat pack\u2019. \u2018So why are they so reluctant to make the change?\u2019 he asked. \u2018Simple\u2019 I said. \u2018They\u2019re made of oak, and you want them to be bamboo.\u2019<\/p>\n

Realizing what your message should say<\/span><\/h3>\n

Before he thought I\u2019d completely lost it, I told him the proverb and explained that at the moment, his colleagues were the oak trees. They knew how the old system worked and didn\u2019t want to change to the unknown. If they were going to be like the stronger bamboo, they needed to know why they should bend. \u2018That\u2019s simple\u2019 he said. \u2018The old tool often asked you to repeat information and it could take a long time to enter data. The new tool only asks for information once and is far more accurate. Their life will be much easier. It will all be much quicker which will make their customers happy too.\u2019
\nGreat, that should make everyone happy, but where did it say all this in the original email? It didn\u2019t, and there was the root of the problem, (or oak tree).
\nNormally, when communicating a change via email or group media, the biggest concern is making sure the \u2018what\u2019 and \u2018how\u2019 is explained as clearly as possible so people understand what they must do. It\u2019s easy to lose focus of the motivational side, the \u2018why\u2019.<\/p>\n

Getting results with your emails<\/span><\/h3>\n

It doesn\u2019t matter how polite your request is, if people can\u2019t relate it to themselves they will resist. To avoid this, try following these five simple steps:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Explain what the change is<\/li>\n
  2. Explain why it makes sense<\/li>\n
  3. Explain why they should care about the change, (what\u2019s in it for them)<\/li>\n
  4. Explain how the change is going to happen<\/li>\n
  5. Explain what you need them to do and when<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Of course, these can be applied to any situation where you\u2019re asking people to make a change, whether it\u2019s by email or face to face; to 1,100 or 10,000 people.
    \nBy the way, the deadline was met, the new tool was launched and it has proved a success. I\u2019m not so sure my client would be so \u2018Zen\u2019 as to say he\u2019s now surrounded by a forest of bamboo trees, but I do know he didn\u2019t have to send 12 reminders when he next asked people to do something.<\/p>\n

    Click here<\/a> for more information on to work effectively in virtual teams.\u00a0 Also, let us know in the comments areas below if you have had any similar situation in your job, and what worked for you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Motivating people isn’t easy no matter what position you hold in the company. There is an old Japanese proverb which says \u2018the bamboo that bends is stronger than the oak that resists.\u2019 A common mistake I was reminded of this recently when working with a client who was responsible for communicating a company-wide change. He […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[92],"tags":[103,105,36,16],"class_list":["post-1563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-soft-skills-pathway","tag-emailing","tag-managing-others","tag-virtual-teams","tag-writing"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMotivating People: Using Emails Within a Virtual Environment | Target Training GmbH<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Motivating people isn't easy, no matter what position you hold in your company. Here are tips for when you have to do so by email in a virtual environment.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/de\/motivating-people-using-emails-within-a-virtual-environment\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"de_DE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Motivating People: Using Emails Within a Virtual Environment | Target Training GmbH\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Motivating people isn't easy, no matter what position you hold in your company. Here are tips for when you have to do so by email in a virtual environment.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/de\/motivating-people-using-emails-within-a-virtual-environment\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Target Training GmbH\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TargetTrainingGmbh\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-07-10T09:45:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-01-10T08:57:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Guest Author\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Verfasst von\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Guest Author\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Gesch\u00e4tzte Lesezeit\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 Minuten\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/de\/motivating-people-using-emails-within-a-virtual-environment\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/de\/motivating-people-using-emails-within-a-virtual-environment\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Guest Author\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/#\/schema\/person\/f7913f49e855a4cdb35e688870af6fbb\"},\"headline\":\"Motivating People: Using Emails Within a Virtual Environment\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-07-10T09:45:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-01-10T08:57:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/de\/motivating-people-using-emails-within-a-virtual-environment\/\"},\"wordCount\":733,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"emailing\",\"managing others\",\"virtual teams\",\"Writing\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Soft Skills\"],\"inLanguage\":\"de-DE\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/de\/motivating-people-using-emails-within-a-virtual-environment\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/de\/motivating-people-using-emails-within-a-virtual-environment\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/de\/motivating-people-using-emails-within-a-virtual-environment\/\",\"name\":\"Motivating People: Using Emails Within a Virtual Environment | Target Training GmbH\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-07-10T09:45:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-01-10T08:57:46+00:00\",\"description\":\"Motivating people isn't easy, no matter what position you hold in your company. Here are tips for when you have to do so by email in a virtual environment.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/de\/motivating-people-using-emails-within-a-virtual-environment\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"de-DE\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/de\/motivating-people-using-emails-within-a-virtual-environment\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/de\/motivating-people-using-emails-within-a-virtual-environment\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/de\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Motivating People: Using Emails Within a Virtual Environment\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/\",\"name\":\"Target Training GmbH\",\"description\":\"Training you to succeed globally\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"de-DE\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Target Training GmbH\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"de-DE\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/WP-logo2.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/WP-logo2.png\",\"width\":103,\"height\":32,\"caption\":\"Target Training GmbH\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TargetTrainingGmbh\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/TargetTrains\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/TargettrainingEugmbh\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/#\/schema\/person\/f7913f49e855a4cdb35e688870af6fbb\",\"name\":\"Guest Author\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"de-DE\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c4f7e9eccea5b0946d3fa3b1f3d6329a?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c4f7e9eccea5b0946d3fa3b1f3d6329a?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Guest Author\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/de\/author\/guesty\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Motivating People: Using Emails Within a Virtual Environment | Target Training GmbH","description":"Motivating people isn't easy, no matter what position you hold in your company. Here are tips for when you have to do so by email in a virtual environment.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/de\/motivating-people-using-emails-within-a-virtual-environment\/","og_locale":"de_DE","og_type":"article","og_title":"Motivating People: Using Emails Within a Virtual Environment | Target Training GmbH","og_description":"Motivating people isn't easy, no matter what position you hold in your company. Here are tips for when you have to do so by email in a virtual environment.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/de\/motivating-people-using-emails-within-a-virtual-environment\/","og_site_name":"Target Training GmbH","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TargetTrainingGmbh","article_published_time":"2013-07-10T09:45:39+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-01-10T08:57:46+00:00","author":"Guest Author","twitter_misc":{"Verfasst von":"Guest Author","Gesch\u00e4tzte Lesezeit":"4 Minuten"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/de\/motivating-people-using-emails-within-a-virtual-environment\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/de\/motivating-people-using-emails-within-a-virtual-environment\/"},"author":{"name":"Guest Author","@id":"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/#\/schema\/person\/f7913f49e855a4cdb35e688870af6fbb"},"headline":"Motivating People: Using Emails Within a Virtual Environment","datePublished":"2013-07-10T09:45:39+00:00","dateModified":"2014-01-10T08:57:46+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/de\/motivating-people-using-emails-within-a-virtual-environment\/"},"wordCount":733,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/#organization"},"keywords":["emailing","managing others","virtual teams","Writing"],"articleSection":["Soft Skills"],"inLanguage":"de-DE","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/de\/motivating-people-using-emails-within-a-virtual-environment\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/de\/motivating-people-using-emails-within-a-virtual-environment\/","url":"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/de\/motivating-people-using-emails-within-a-virtual-environment\/","name":"Motivating People: Using Emails Within a Virtual Environment | Target Training GmbH","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-07-10T09:45:39+00:00","dateModified":"2014-01-10T08:57:46+00:00","description":"Motivating people isn't easy, no matter what position you hold in your company. Here are tips for when you have to do so by email in a virtual environment.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/de\/motivating-people-using-emails-within-a-virtual-environment\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"de-DE","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/de\/motivating-people-using-emails-within-a-virtual-environment\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/de\/motivating-people-using-emails-within-a-virtual-environment\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/de\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Motivating People: Using Emails Within a Virtual Environment"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/","name":"Target Training GmbH","description":"Training you to succeed globally","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"de-DE"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/#organization","name":"Target Training GmbH","url":"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"de-DE","@id":"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/WP-logo2.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/WP-logo2.png","width":103,"height":32,"caption":"Target Training GmbH"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TargetTrainingGmbh","https:\/\/x.com\/TargetTrains","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/TargettrainingEugmbh"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/#\/schema\/person\/f7913f49e855a4cdb35e688870af6fbb","name":"Guest Author","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"de-DE","@id":"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c4f7e9eccea5b0946d3fa3b1f3d6329a?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c4f7e9eccea5b0946d3fa3b1f3d6329a?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Guest Author"},"url":"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/de\/author\/guesty\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1563\/"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post\/"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34\/"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments\/?post=1563"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1563\/revisions\/"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15312,"href":"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1563\/revisions\/15312\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/?parent=1563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories\/?post=1563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags\/?post=1563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}