Reflection: STORYTELLING      Challenge & Selection  Working at a beverage manufacturing plant, the routine is so monotonous (and rigorous)  that it’s really hard to think out of the box when it comes to designing solutions.  Being the Factory Analyst, part of my job is to conduct daily review meetings. I was facing  challenge to keep these meetings short, focused and increase participation. One of the key gaps  was to gather and keep the team members’ attention focused on top priorities and align them  to the business goals. For that very reason, I chose to use the Design Thinking tool: Storytelling        Application  I decided to go step by step. While going through the What is? Stage, I tried to define the  problem with some open ended questions, such as:  Why participation is low? What makes people come late to meetings? How to keep a time  limit without truncating the discussion on critical problems? How to create and maintain a  positive and solution centric mood of the room.  Basically, how to garner maximum value out of morning meetings in minimum possible time?  And how to instill motivation into the team?    I decided to use journey map as well as interviews to arrive at the base of the problem. I found  that the key reason my team members were coming late to meetings was that

a) Those who come on time, had to wait for others, and those who speak first and narrate

their own issues also left the room first without listening to others.

b) They hated being blasted in front of the entire cross functional team.   c) They felt that they’d be able to handle problems better if they spend this one hour to

actually do their routine work on shop floor rather than discussing the problems in a  room.

d) They felt that time hoggers from other departments don’t leave any time and ultimately

critical issues of their areas remain undiscussed.

e) After leaving the room, all members felt physically as well as mentally exhausted.

Physically, because of standing for more than 60 minutes & Mentally- because listening  others argue consistently and being grilled in front of others.

When I moved to What if? stage, I did brainstorming and came up with few actionable  changes to the structure.  What if We create an incentive for those who come on time and penalty for late comers?

What if we somehow make the experience of one hour as productive and delightful rather than  full of frustration?

  Restructuring

o One person will brief the overall performance and discuss only critical/non-

performing KPIs.

  Here we will utilize the power of storytelling. By weaving the  seemingly disconnected daily tasks to the business performance, we will  engage team towards one focus. By evoking emotions, we will generate  quality actions and reducing the disconnect between personal goals and  business goals.

o Decide the sequence of speaking according to the order in which they join the

meeting.

o One by one each HOD will share their concerns and listen to other people’s

concerns related to their department- make a note and update the team next day  on those notes.

  Ensure basic things like drinking water, air circulation is available to make physical  environment conducive for comfortable interactions.

  Find a way to reward laconic communications and rebuke garrulous ones.

  Keep the number of people joining the meeting limited to- one representative of every  dept.

Insight & Approach  These steps give us a number of solutions to work on and figure out What Wows?  For a period of one week, I tried to effectively implement the solution points and carefully note  down the positive effects as well as improvement opportunities.    This led me to the final step of Design Thinking process: What Works?  After assessing the solutions, the key learning has been that Storytelling is an impeccable tool to  capture your audience, reframe their perspectives and align their priorities. By implementing the  above suggestions, I was able to witness a distinguishing surge in the participation, engagement  and quality of discussion during our morning meeting. Now we are able to cover all important  points, engage in constructive discussions most of the times, avoid the meeting to digress from  central theme and most of all, the motivation level of team is better than before.


Reflection : STORYTELLING Challenge & Selection Working at a beverage manufacturing plant , the routine is so monotonous ( and rigorous ) that it ’s really hard to think out of the box when it comes to designing solutions . Being the Factory Analyst , part of my job is to conduct daily review meetings . I was facing challenge to keep these meetings short , focused and increase participation . One of the key gaps was to gather and keep the team members ’ attention focused on top priorities and align them to the business goals . For that very reason , I chose to use the Design Thinking tool : Storytelling Application I decided to go step by step . While going through the What is ? Stage , I tried to define the problem with some open ended questions , such as : Why participation is low ? What makes people come late to meetings ? How to keep a time limit without truncating the discussion on critical problems ? How to create and maintain a positive and solution centric mood of the room . Basically , how to garner maximum value out of morning meetings in minimum possible time ? And how to instill motivation into the team ? I decided to use journey map as well as interviews to arrive at the base of the problem . I found that the key reason my team members were coming late to meetings was that a ) Those who come on time , had to wait for others , and those who speak first and narrate their own issues also left the room first without listening to others . b ) They hated being blasted in front of the entire cross functional team . c ) They felt that they ’d be able to handle problems better if they spend this one hour to actually do their routine work on shop floor rather than discussing the problems in a room . d ) They felt that time hoggers from other departments do n’t leave any time and ultimately critical issues of their areas remain undiscussed . e ) After leaving the room , all members felt physically as well as mentally exhausted . Physically , because of standing for more than 60 minutes & Mentally- because listening others argue consistently and being grilled in front of others . When I moved to What if ? stage , I did brainstorming and came up with few actionable changes to the structure . What if We create an incentive for those who come on time and penalty for late comers ? What if we somehow make the experience of one hour as productive and delightful rather than full of frustration ?  Restructuring o One person will brief the overall performance and discuss only critical / non- performing KPIs .  Here we will utilize the power of storytelling . By weaving the seemingly disconnected daily tasks to the business performance , we will engage team towards one focus . By evoking emotions , we will generate quality actions and reducing the disconnect between personal goals and business goals . o Decide the sequence of speaking according to the order in which they join the meeting . o One by one each HOD will share their concerns and listen to other people ’s concerns related to their department- make a note and update the team next day on those notes .  Ensure basic things like drinking water , air circulation is available to make physical environment conducive for comfortable interactions .  Find a way to reward laconic communications and rebuke garrulous ones .  Keep the number of people joining the meeting limited to- one representative of every dept . Insight & Approach These steps give us a number of solutions to work on and figure out What Wows ? For a period of one week , I tried to effectively implement the solution points and carefully note down the positive effects as well as improvement opportunities . This led me to the final step of Design Thinking process : What Works ? After assessing the solutions , the key learning has been that Storytelling is an impeccable tool to capture your audience , reframe their perspectives and align their priorities . By implementing the above suggestions , I was able to witness a distinguishing surge in the participation , engagement and quality of discussion during our morning meeting . Now we are able to cover all important points , engage in constructive discussions most of the times , avoid the meeting to digress from central theme and most of all , the motivation level of team is better than before .