Peer Graded Assignment - Storytelling (Module 2)

1. Challenge:

I am the analytics Manager for a company ABC. ABC is a medium sized company with IOT products and  solutions with major analytical tools used are MS excel and Python. I have a team of 10 members in  which 7 are MIS reporting executives and other 3 are data analysts (DAs).

-  MIS team has only MS excel skills.

-  DA (Data Analyst) team is usually occupied with the recommendations / insights sharing or  perform study on the equipment performances with Python expertise.

The challenge is to:

-  Have on-time reports with good quality.

-  Find quick patterns in the data where excel has challenges to handle huge data.

-  How to collaborate within the team, and make use of DA expertise as well.

-  Explain sponsor on how to resolve the challenges.

2. Selection:

 what? : Storytelling tool is used to understand the cause of the above-mentioned challenges   why?: In reference with the Storytelling Tool in the module 2, we can understand that  -  it's about the connection that we give to people about a piece of information that we're trying  to understand together

-  It has emotional connection, and it also has larger purpose

-  Storytelling is the difference between solving a problem and creating a cause.

3. Application:

Here the story telling is used in 2 ways. One is the MIS team telling to me and Myself conveying to the  sponsor to allocate a activity to resolve the MIS challenges.

1. MIS storytelling to manager (myself):  -  Each MIS executive discussed about them, their knowing’s, their interest in the project.

-  They had explained the very clear sequence of events they perform daily. Detailed procedures  involved in the report making and sharing is understood together.

-  The reflection of this exercise is with Q&A to note the expression of the emotions on the tasks,  difficulties using the current tool / expertise and also the working time involved.

2. Manager (myself) storytelling to Sponsor:  -  Explain briefly the problem and conveying how important and dangerous is it to take necessary  actions at the earliest.

-  Allow the sponsor to express his concerns, advices.

-  Mention the current capabilities of the team and their aspiration / interest in the project.

-  Presenting the end possibilities by expressing confidence to mention that there is a way to solve  the problem.

o Propose a clear sequence of actions to be carried, people or expertise involved for a

determined time.

o Address the interest of team members appropriately for the time considering their

emotional quotient on nature of tasks.

o What tool works.   o hard facts with data.

4. Insight:

Insights with categories below –

-  Tool :   Only excel is used which is difficult to even to use few functions, get pivot table when data is  huge. Automation of repeated events needs different expertise in excel

-  Interests:  Curious to use Python supports to handle / manipulate data

-  Emotion:  Tired of same and laborious procedures in creating reports

In order to derive the solution for the problem, the above points were considered

-  Wherever possible python was used as reproducibility tool for the reports. In some cases, it  could cover 100% going to as low as 40%.

-  Python user defined functions with easy interface for common tasks in excel like to get summary  as pivot, merging tables, subset the data. Find simple patterns was easy as data preparation  took less time.

-  All this boosted morale in MIS executives as the time consuming was less, error was less and  they were using new tool.

-  Excellent team collaboration was established.

5. Approach:

As our team is gone through this tool and should be well aware of storytelling method and its benefits.  More applications to be used with this tool as it is diverse and the team can be more collaborative.  Communicating with sponsor or other stakeholders can be efficient and make them inspired by the  solution. Hence preparing the mindset for design thinking tools are very much necessary and planning  for the awareness sessions or workshops to be planned.

