Example reflection – Storytelling

Challenge

The challenge was that there was an employee in my organization who was in my team at that time and  he was not able to complete his job in time from the past 2 weeks and was not talking to other  employees as well and he was starting to keep himself alone all the time which previously did not  happen at all. So, I knew there was some problem because of which he is not able to complete his work  on time and started to distance himself. So, I wanted to talk to him because as a friend I wanted him to  be good in his job and not get depressed and just tell him that I was there for him.

Selection

I selected story telling as a tool because it really helps us to connect with the other person whether that  is a person or a consumer. The storytelling tool is being used for many years by various people to convey  the message. In this challenge I used it to open up someone who a=was feeling very depressed after  hearing the news of his father health.

Application

One day I went up to him and sat beside him and started talking to him about random things happening  in office and then I gradually asked him that why he is keeping himself distant from everyone from the  two past weeks. Then he told me that his father’s health was not good and that he just found out about  the nerves in the heart of his father are blocked and that the doctors have suggested bypass surgery and  that he is scared for the life of his father.

I also has this experience with my grandmother in the past so I told the story of my grandmother in front  of everyone when we were having our lunch. I told everyone that during a religious ceremony, my  grandmother passed out while she was standing in the crowd and that I have to rush to her and check  her and then I had to call my father who was a bit far and had to come fast and then we took her to the  hospital where the doctor did some tests and then suggested bypass surgery and we had to do it  immediately the next day because it was very serious. But after surgery my grandmother recovered and  she is doing fine now also.

Insights and Approach

This really calmed him down and he understood that even though this situation is a tough situation to  be in he can still overcome it and he just have to be there for his father in this time and he cheered up a  bit which really helped him and he was able to focus on himself.

So I told this story to my  HR and he relay appreciated the fact that I went out o my way to help  someone else and promised to have more interaction with the employees so that he also knows if there  is something bothering the employees and get to the roots of it because everyone has their low points  in life and they just need to know that there is someone whom they can talk to.

I really liked this course because it tells me how we can come up with different ideas and how to actually  innovate.

