Reflection: Storytelling

Challenge    I am currently working as a supervisor in a process engineering team. When the COVID-19 pandemic  hit our country, the productivity in terms of completion duration of work items assigned to our team  has significantly dropped with tier 1 items, evaluations categorized as easy to medium difficulty, taking  almost twice as long. My challenge was to find out the specific cause of the drop in productivity so as  to be able to properly propose solutions that may be applicable to other teams as well.    Selection    Recognizing that the issue at hand is more personal in nature rather than technical and requires in- depth understanding how the team members perceive the current situation, Storytelling was the  selected tool.     Application and Approach    A survey form was developed to have an initial grasp of the team’s concerns. The initial plan was to  conduct an open forum with all the team members present but this was later changed to a one-on-one  informal talks so as to have more open conversations.     After these, the information and insights gathered seem to still be insufficient and that members were  still hesitant in raising all their concerns so a half day for de-stressing was scheduled for the team  members where they were allowed to use the time allotted to converse and connect with other team  members accordingly. Then they were later asked to raise any concern they see from the other team  member’s perspective without name-dropping. This vastly increased the feedback acquired from the  members.      Insights and Approach    One of the most notable stories from the conversations was with the youngest member of the team.  He shared that there is a growing fear in the company housing compound that some people already  are infected and that the set protocols from the company are very vague. Added to this, he was being  treated unfairly by the other residents since his parent recently went home from working overseas.  Even though he hasn’t yet made contact with his parent, the wrongfully maltreated in the housing  compound. This hindered him from being able to focus on his work. The issue was raised to the  housing compound accordingly for proper action and the result is yet to be determined.     Another insight was that the growing rumours on the manpower reduction of the company has forced  the members to pro-actively prepare for the layoffs using their working time to answer phone calls and  browse for other job opportunities lessening the time for the completion of the assigned work items.  With these, a set of guidelines and transparency sessions were conducted by the company with the  results still to be determined.    Approach    For the next opportunities, the inclusion of a de-stressing time and allowing the members to raise  concerns from other team members’ perspective will be planned from the get-go. Additionally, the  process can be further improved by involving the housemates of the team members in the process.


Reflection : Storytelling Challenge I am currently working as a supervisor in a process engineering team . When the COVID-19 pandemic hit our country , the productivity in terms of completion duration of work items assigned to our team has significantly dropped with tier 1 items , evaluations categorized as easy to medium difficulty , taking almost twice as long . My challenge was to find out the specific cause of the drop in productivity so as to be able to properly propose solutions that may be applicable to other teams as well . Selection Recognizing that the issue at hand is more personal in nature rather than technical and requires in- depth understanding how the team members perceive the current situation , Storytelling was the selected tool . Application and Approach A survey form was developed to have an initial grasp of the team ’s concerns . The initial plan was to conduct an open forum with all the team members present but this was later changed to a one - on - one informal talks so as to have more open conversations . After these , the information and insights gathered seem to still be insufficient and that members were still hesitant in raising all their concerns so a half day for de - stressing was scheduled for the team members where they were allowed to use the time allotted to converse and connect with other team members accordingly . Then they were later asked to raise any concern they see from the other team member ’s perspective without name - dropping . This vastly increased the feedback acquired from the members . Insights and Approach One of the most notable stories from the conversations was with the youngest member of the team . He shared that there is a growing fear in the company housing compound that some people already are infected and that the set protocols from the company are very vague . Added to this , he was being treated unfairly by the other residents since his parent recently went home from working overseas . Even though he has n’t yet made contact with his parent , the wrongfully maltreated in the housing compound . This hindered him from being able to focus on his work . The issue was raised to the housing compound accordingly for proper action and the result is yet to be determined . Another insight was that the growing rumours on the manpower reduction of the company has forced the members to pro - actively prepare for the layoffs using their working time to answer phone calls and browse for other job opportunities lessening the time for the completion of the assigned work items . With these , a set of guidelines and transparency sessions were conducted by the company with the results still to be determined . Approach For the next opportunities , the inclusion of a de - stressing time and allowing the members to raise concerns from other team members ’ perspective will be planned from the get - go . Additionally , the process can be further improved by involving the housemates of the team members in the process .