Example Reflection – Storytelling

Challenge & Selection

Storytelling is a great tool and an integral aspect of being a good leader. Whether you’re coaching your  project team, representing your team and their projects to executive stakeholders, or communicating  with external and internal customers you often achieve success through the stories you tell. Here are  some reasons why stories matter for leading project teams, and why I use it all the time:

1. Coaching project team  2. Pitching new projects  3. Making executive-level presentations  4. Creating project team brand

Application

The good news here is this: Everyone loves a story. We just have to find a way to tell ours. One effective  storyteller mode is drawing on our experience. For example, an experienced IT contractor once told me  that you work with the same people every place you go. Their faces change. Their names change, the  place changes. But they’re basically the same people. This story taught me to approach people and  situations based on my experience of dealing with similar people and situations in the past.

Here's chalking some points how I use it:

1. Speak from experience.

2. Practice my stories and solicit feedback from a trusted advisor, mentor, team member, manager,

friend, etc., before I tell it my teammates.

3. Use my retrospectives and postmortems as source materials for my stories.

4. Stay well informed. Read industry blogs, business books and talk to others in my industry.

Telling an effective story can come from outside our experience. If we don’t have the experience, find a  similar one from reading business books or industry blog posts and we’ve our story with “I read how one  of our fellow project managers solved a similar problem.”

Once my team was struggling to resolve a user story as it was complicated and none of the team  members had experience of resolving the same. As the deadline was approaching team morale went  downwards as they couldn’t find any solution.

Insight & Approach

I used the same trick of applying industry blog post story for maintaining the equilibrium. As the team  found that everybody can be in a soup but what best they can do they can try to find the best way out,  team got motivated again.

Sometimes a little story can have great impact. When you can share stories about your experience, and  encourage your team members to do so as well, everyone can find a solution in the war stories. It’s not  about having a team story hour at each team stand up. It’s about being able to tell the story of a  previous projects or share similar story from industry blogs.

This course helped me to see this as a more effective tool in a new way. It will definitely help me to  prepare ahead and think of stories that will assist me in presenting my ideas and best illuminate them.


Example Reflection – Storytelling Challenge & Selection Storytelling is a great tool and an integral aspect of being a good leader . Whether you ’re coaching your project team , representing your team and their projects to executive stakeholders , or communicating with external and internal customers you often achieve success through the stories you tell . Here are some reasons why stories matter for leading project teams , and why I use it all the time : 1 . Coaching project team 2 . Pitching new projects 3 . Making executive - level presentations 4 . Creating project team brand Application The good news here is this : Everyone loves a story . We just have to find a way to tell ours . One effective storyteller mode is drawing on our experience . For example , an experienced IT contractor once told me that you work with the same people every place you go . Their faces change . Their names change , the place changes . But they ’re basically the same people . This story taught me to approach people and situations based on my experience of dealing with similar people and situations in the past . Here 's chalking some points how I use it : 1 . Speak from experience . 2 . Practice my stories and solicit feedback from a trusted advisor , mentor , team member , manager , friend , etc . , before I tell it my teammates . 3 . Use my retrospectives and postmortems as source materials for my stories . 4 . Stay well informed . Read industry blogs , business books and talk to others in my industry . Telling an effective story can come from outside our experience . If we do n’t have the experience , find a similar one from reading business books or industry blog posts and we ’ve our story with “ I read how one of our fellow project managers solved a similar problem . ” Once my team was struggling to resolve a user story as it was complicated and none of the team members had experience of resolving the same . As the deadline was approaching team morale went downwards as they could n’t find any solution . Insight & Approach I used the same trick of applying industry blog post story for maintaining the equilibrium . As the team found that everybody can be in a soup but what best they can do they can try to find the best way out , team got motivated again . Sometimes a little story can have great impact . When you can share stories about your experience , and encourage your team members to do so as well , everyone can find a solution in the war stories . It ’s not about having a team story hour at each team stand up . It ’s about being able to tell the story of a previous projects or share similar story from industry blogs . This course helped me to see this as a more effective tool in a new way . It will definitely help me to prepare ahead and think of stories that will assist me in presenting my ideas and best illuminate them .