REFLECTION – STORYTELLING

Challenge

In Core Industry, one of the biggest challenge for young engineers is that

to get the work done from their experienced subordinates. The subordinates are  aged and with years of experience more than our age and they are used to the  techniques & methodologies that they started with. On the other hand, the  engineers like us, fresh out of college, were exposed to the latest techniques &  technologies in the industry which has a better efficiency compared to the older  techniques. Also, the experienced people has this mentality that “Why should I  listen to this young guy who has no experience, while I have spent years  mastering it?” . They refuse to accept the change to stay competitive and are not  ready to listen to a engineering graduate with no experience. As a fresher, he/she  need to find a solution to bridge this gap.

Selection

Storytelling makes your listener the protagonist of the story. By doing so,

it makes them feel more valuable and they might recognise their importance. In  the stated challenge, I feel that when the experienced people were made to feel  important they might let you in and will accept that they need to change to stay  competitive.

Application

To start the process, I need to completely analyse and understand the way

these people operate. At first, it is important to gain their trust and to do so,  storytelling helps. As we are living in a world of six sigma, the operators need to  be efficient and should not waste any time while handling. Often, due to the  upgradation in machines they have the fear of losing their jobs and hence they  refuse to accept these technologies. As an engineer, the importance of the  operators in the company must be made clear to them.

The engineer should start with the market scenario when the operators

started their career with and compare it with the current market scenario. The  engineer should do so from the operator’s perspective and explain it to them.   The engineer must explain how they should change to make the company from  good to great. The engineer must earn the respect of the operators by working  with them and doing their jobs, so that the operator understands the main motive  of the engineer and agrees to listen to his commands and they work in a  synchronized manner which will in turn benefit the company. The engineer must  tell them how their growth will be, if they follow the new techniques and bring  profit to the company.

Insights and Approach

After doing this, the operators should have realised their importance and

the need to change to the new changing era. The gap is no more and there would  be an effective communication in the hierarchy level. By doing so, we engineers  can also learn their experience as they would have more empirical knowledge  and combining that with our knowledge, we can do wonders.

