Reflection – Storytelling

Challenge

A while ago, I accepted the Manager position at an accounting team in charge of doing the tax accounting  for US inbound and outbound assignees. Getting the job required a deep technical expertise of the tax  methodology and accounting structure used by the company. However, when I came on board my  Manager explained me that the team was having execution issues and therefore had low credibility with  the stakeholders due to their lack of technical knowledge. On the positive side, I worked on that same  organization years before and was familiar with the type of work and knew some of the stakeholders. The  leadership challenge was to transform the team into a Center of Excellence by engaging both the team  members and the stakeholders.

Selection

Storytelling is a powerful tool to capture people attention and engage people on a good discussion.  Similarly to the beginning of a good movie or book, storytelling requires you to demonstrate there’s  something at stake, this will capture your audience’s attention right away. Then, you need to start building  upon that opening and make sure to provide sense of direction for the plot, explaining all the obstacles  along the way, maintaining suspense as explained in the video, presenting the story characters and  adding action to the plot in order to generate emotions. Most people will relate more to emotions, rather  than just data, so you have to embed the data within your story. At the end you have to articulate how  your proposal or recommendation could generate a positive outcome to the challenges presented and  explain what the learnings were.

This is why I believe storytelling was such a good fit to my challenges, as it was possible to present it in  such a way that I could not just present a business plan to improve the team’s performance, but to share  with my stakeholders and team members a story of transformation that will capture their attention and  engage them, which makes it a lot easier to implement versus just imposing a plan.

Application

As I was new to the role, I started by collecting different perspectives on the situation, so I met with my  team members, manager and some stakeholders to understand what led the team to have executions  issues and technical knowledge gaps. Once I heard their stories and connected the dots and started  putting together my own story.

Once I collected the data, I realized there were multiple areas that need to be worked, including people  dynamics within the team, processes health, technical knowledge and stakeholder management.  Therefore, I did some research to put together a plan that could tackle these areas, I was able to include  in my proposal tools such as risk assessment, BPM health assessment, 5 dysfunctions theory, case  studies, among others.

Now, it was time to start putting together a compelling story to engage my team members, Manager and  stakeholders on implementing the plan. So I started by clearly articulating what was at risk in terms of  dollars and compliance, this helped to get their attention and get everyone to agree we had a problem  and needed to do something about it.

Once we reached agreement, I started to explain the reasons and obstacles that led the team to have  knowledge gaps and execution issues, trying to be very visual and creating suspense. Then, when  everyone understood what was driving the issues, it was time to put the characters into action and present  the proposal to fix the issue, the lessons learned to avoid the same situation in the future and the next  steps to be followed.

Insight and Approach

What I have learned applying this tool is that stories are a really good way to transmit meaning and get  people’s attention, even if they are data driven like me, the art is embedding the key data points into the  story. This is not easy, so I learned that practice, practice and practice are key to make sure your key  messages are coming across.

I also learned, that since stories are engaging it helps the audience to be more open and creative, which  helps to the discussion and provides additional insights to enrich the proposal.

Probably one of the key learnings is to know your audience and this includes not only their  communication styles, but also you need to read the environment. In my case there were additional  external factors going on, such as a political pulse between two key stakeholders that made it difficult for  them to reach an agreement, not because of the proposal, but because of this political struggle. So,  knowing about this type of environmental factors could save a lot of time in the process. Since I had this  experience, next time I would probably dedicate more time to learn about this environmental factors that  could delay the process or cause roadblocks in the way.


Reflection – Storytelling Challenge A while ago , I accepted the Manager position at an accounting team in charge of doing the tax accounting for US inbound and outbound assignees . Getting the job required a deep technical expertise of the tax methodology and accounting structure used by the company . However , when I came on board my Manager explained me that the team was having execution issues and therefore had low credibility with the stakeholders due to their lack of technical knowledge . On the positive side , I worked on that same organization years before and was familiar with the type of work and knew some of the stakeholders . The leadership challenge was to transform the team into a Center of Excellence by engaging both the team members and the stakeholders . Selection Storytelling is a powerful tool to capture people attention and engage people on a good discussion . Similarly to the beginning of a good movie or book , storytelling requires you to demonstrate there ’s something at stake , this will capture your audience ’s attention right away . Then , you need to start building upon that opening and make sure to provide sense of direction for the plot , explaining all the obstacles along the way , maintaining suspense as explained in the video , presenting the story characters and adding action to the plot in order to generate emotions . Most people will relate more to emotions , rather than just data , so you have to embed the data within your story . At the end you have to articulate how your proposal or recommendation could generate a positive outcome to the challenges presented and explain what the learnings were . This is why I believe storytelling was such a good fit to my challenges , as it was possible to present it in such a way that I could not just present a business plan to improve the team ’s performance , but to share with my stakeholders and team members a story of transformation that will capture their attention and engage them , which makes it a lot easier to implement versus just imposing a plan . Application As I was new to the role , I started by collecting different perspectives on the situation , so I met with my team members , manager and some stakeholders to understand what led the team to have executions issues and technical knowledge gaps . Once I heard their stories and connected the dots and started putting together my own story . Once I collected the data , I realized there were multiple areas that need to be worked , including people dynamics within the team , processes health , technical knowledge and stakeholder management . Therefore , I did some research to put together a plan that could tackle these areas , I was able to include in my proposal tools such as risk assessment , BPM health assessment , 5 dysfunctions theory , case studies , among others . Now , it was time to start putting together a compelling story to engage my team members , Manager and stakeholders on implementing the plan . So I started by clearly articulating what was at risk in terms of dollars and compliance , this helped to get their attention and get everyone to agree we had a problem and needed to do something about it . Once we reached agreement , I started to explain the reasons and obstacles that led the team to have knowledge gaps and execution issues , trying to be very visual and creating suspense . Then , when everyone understood what was driving the issues , it was time to put the characters into action and present the proposal to fix the issue , the lessons learned to avoid the same situation in the future and the next steps to be followed . Insight and Approach What I have learned applying this tool is that stories are a really good way to transmit meaning and get people ’s attention , even if they are data driven like me , the art is embedding the key data points into the story . This is not easy , so I learned that practice , practice and practice are key to make sure your key messages are coming across . I also learned , that since stories are engaging it helps the audience to be more open and creative , which helps to the discussion and provides additional insights to enrich the proposal . Probably one of the key learnings is to know your audience and this includes not only their communication styles , but also you need to read the environment . In my case there were additional external factors going on , such as a political pulse between two key stakeholders that made it difficult for them to reach an agreement , not because of the proposal , but because of this political struggle . So , knowing about this type of environmental factors could save a lot of time in the process . Since I had this experience , next time I would probably dedicate more time to learn about this environmental factors that could delay the process or cause roadblocks in the way .