Storytelling    I was struggling for some time to ensure a more efficient delivery of remote learning for  large groups of persons. I am often invited to deliver training on project management  (PM) tools and techniques to professionals, who are not project management specialists  nor consider it necessary to employ PM tools in their normal activity. I am currently  working with auditors, teaching them to use hybrid PM techniques in their audits (the  concepts of scope, time and cost, the tools of Gantt charts, sprints, daily standup  meetings, etc.)    I selected the tool of storytelling, because if I show the auditor how PM can be applied  to any area of our lives, including personal and professional, they will lose the fear of  applying it to their work and will understand better HOW the tools can be applied.  Terms of sprint, retrospective, backlog can be quite intimidating.    The story I told was a story of home refurbishment. I asked them to think how they  would go about repairing and decorating their home. And I showed them how this big  project can be planned and separated in sprints (1 or 2 week periods with defined  outcome) – in my example these were kitchen, bathroom, bedroom. I then explained the  sprint backlog by making a list of tasks you would need to do to refurbish a bedroom,  like taking off the wallpaper, levelling the walls, buying paint and tools, painting. We  have also talked about daily standup meetings and sprint review meetings. My goal was  to show them how we can avoid roadblocks by getting together every day for 15  minutes and discussing what we did yesterday (took off the wallpaper), what we will do  today (level the wall) and what are the blocks (do we have the appropriate materials at  home). On the other hand, at the end of the week sprint, we need to sit down again and  see what has been done during the week and what needs to be rolled forward to the  next sprint.    When I first applied this tool, the experience was gratifying. Needless to say, that in the  remote training session with camera-off, mic-off, it is very difficult to get people to talk.  They are immersed in some other activities or plainly don’t pay attention. When I started  talking about home repairs, I had everybody participating. Everybody was identified with  the situation, and I hope this helps them retain more information about PM tools in  general.    I do have a doubt – whether the example was close enough to their audit practice, so  that the halo from the session and the concepts that they learned will include their  professional life not only their personal experience. Therefore, next time I was thinking  about using storytelling again, but with an example that is closer to their professional

experience, a project that I currently manage – collaboration with universities in order to  deliver to the undergraduates the training that is relevant to our business and selecting  the most outstanding students to join our company.    All in all, storytelling helped me to get the attention of people who would be  disconnected otherwise and make them retain at least some of the information that I  was sharing. It is often said that people remember best the situations that they  personally identify with, so this was the goal of the exercise.


Storytelling I was struggling for some time to ensure a more efficient delivery of remote learning for large groups of persons . I am often invited to deliver training on project management ( PM ) tools and techniques to professionals , who are not project management specialists nor consider it necessary to employ PM tools in their normal activity . I am currently working with auditors , teaching them to use hybrid PM techniques in their audits ( the concepts of scope , time and cost , the tools of Gantt charts , sprints , daily standup meetings , etc . ) I selected the tool of storytelling , because if I show the auditor how PM can be applied to any area of our lives , including personal and professional , they will lose the fear of applying it to their work and will understand better HOW the tools can be applied . Terms of sprint , retrospective , backlog can be quite intimidating . The story I told was a story of home refurbishment . I asked them to think how they would go about repairing and decorating their home . And I showed them how this big project can be planned and separated in sprints ( 1 or 2 week periods with defined outcome ) – in my example these were kitchen , bathroom , bedroom . I then explained the sprint backlog by making a list of tasks you would need to do to refurbish a bedroom , like taking off the wallpaper , levelling the walls , buying paint and tools , painting . We have also talked about daily standup meetings and sprint review meetings . My goal was to show them how we can avoid roadblocks by getting together every day for 15 minutes and discussing what we did yesterday ( took off the wallpaper ) , what we will do today ( level the wall ) and what are the blocks ( do we have the appropriate materials at home ) . On the other hand , at the end of the week sprint , we need to sit down again and see what has been done during the week and what needs to be rolled forward to the next sprint . When I first applied this tool , the experience was gratifying . Needless to say , that in the remote training session with camera - off , mic - off , it is very difficult to get people to talk . They are immersed in some other activities or plainly do n’t pay attention . When I started talking about home repairs , I had everybody participating . Everybody was identified with the situation , and I hope this helps them retain more information about PM tools in general . I do have a doubt – whether the example was close enough to their audit practice , so that the halo from the session and the concepts that they learned will include their professional life not only their personal experience . Therefore , next time I was thinking about using storytelling again , but with an example that is closer to their professional experience , a project that I currently manage – collaboration with universities in order to deliver to the undergraduates the training that is relevant to our business and selecting the most outstanding students to join our company . All in all , storytelling helped me to get the attention of people who would be disconnected otherwise and make them retain at least some of the information that I was sharing . It is often said that people remember best the situations that they personally identify with , so this was the goal of the exercise .