Reflection Story Telling – Change to project team structure

Challenge

Several years ago, I took on a role to lead a newly formed team that would be responsible for the  design, build, and deployment of Finance activities for the replacement of an aging enterprise resource  planning system. This involved four large businesses within the North America region for a global  commodities company. The teams had previously been part of the business group and were now being  moved to a finance function. The main challenge that presented itself is that one team was fully formed  and had been working on their project for two years. Another team was getting started and had one  lead and two team members in place. The other two teams were mine to setup and hire the full team of  a lead and supporting staff. I needed to get the current team members to switch to a new function and  way of working along with getting to know me and my leadership style.    Selection

I chose story telling for my approach to working with the existing team members to get them on board  with the new structure. I have found this tactic to be successful in the past in both business and personal  experiences to gain trust and help people to see the future and vision of the team or product. I feel  more comfortable in telling stories especially if I can relate it back to a previous experience or situation  that helps the recipient understand what we are looking to accomplish and the purpose of the product.     Application

I started by planning individual discussions with team members to outline the new structure and  strategy by using visual aids of organizational charts, technology tools, and function teams that would be  available to support and streamline their project activities. I told the story of how the new structure  would help remove some of the ambiguity they were experiencing and give them expanded expert  resources that would be available to them as they worked through each project. As I met with each  team member, I asked them directly what questions or fears they had with the new structure. For those  questions that came up that I could immediately relate to, I gave them advice based on a similar story  that I could share. For most team members that put them at ease and I assured them they could always  reach out to me if they had additional concerns or questions that arose.   I made note of those most hesitant and resistant to the new structure. I followed up with them on a  regular basis either by engaging them in hallway conversations or scheduling time with them for  informal meetings. I would continue to reinforce the story of the process structure and fill in with any  new information. In addition, quarterly team meetings were held to review the progress to date and  update the team on new initiatives.    Insight

While it was a rocky start for several team members, over the course of time sharing these stories I  became a trusted advisor to both my direct reports and their team members. At the time, I didn’t realize  I was using a Design Thinking method, it was a go to I had used in the past and that I personally liked  because it helped me understand a new structure or feature. In the future I would be more intentional  about reaching out to the people who were hesitant to keep telling them the story and helping them to  understand in a shorter timeline.

Approach

I would use this approach in the future for this particular situation, as I and the team did not have any  input into the team structure of how the deployments would be managed. In my follow up meetings  with all team members, I realized how powerful it is to help people understand and feel comfortable in  their roles by sharing empathy with similar experiences. It ties us together, no matter our backgrounds  and unites us to a common goal.

