Storytelling

Challenge: I had a cross-functional team and we were trying to design an event that would  increase interpersonal connections within our units. Team members experienced a lack of  interpersonal connection within teams because interactions were typically compliance-based  versus focused on getting to understand each other interpersonally. This led to a lack of trust  and a lot of social tension within the teams. The lack of trust also resulted in team members not  being able to adequately support one another.

Selection: Storytelling is about providing clarity and interest through describing an event as a  story. This also helps provide empathy and context by describing a situation from the  perspective of an individual. I selected this for our challenge because we needed more clarity in  how our solution would work, especially from the human-centered perspective since it is a social  challenge we were addressing.

Application: We used a design thinking workshop to iterate on approaches to build a culture of  interconnectedness, trust, and dignity. One of the approaches we decided to pursue was a  team-building event. We applied storytelling by identifying each key moment that a team  member would experience at the event we were designing. We also integrated some  visualization techniques by drawing these key moments. We described how the team member  would experience and feel through each key moment or part of the event experience. Then, we  reflected on them in order as if we were telling the story of the event in past tense.

Insight: Rather than focusing on how we would plan the key moments, we focused on what the  individuals would experience. By focusing on the user-perspective and his/her feelings at each  key moment, it helped us to design an environment that was more comfortable and conducive to  team building. It also helped us clarify how the flow of events would work.


Storytelling Challenge : I had a cross - functional team and we were trying to design an event that would increase interpersonal connections within our units . Team members experienced a lack of interpersonal connection within teams because interactions were typically compliance - based versus focused on getting to understand each other interpersonally . This led to a lack of trust and a lot of social tension within the teams . The lack of trust also resulted in team members not being able to adequately support one another . Selection : Storytelling is about providing clarity and interest through describing an event as a story . This also helps provide empathy and context by describing a situation from the perspective of an individual . I selected this for our challenge because we needed more clarity in how our solution would work , especially from the human - centered perspective since it is a social challenge we were addressing . Application : We used a design thinking workshop to iterate on approaches to build a culture of interconnectedness , trust , and dignity . One of the approaches we decided to pursue was a team - building event . We applied storytelling by identifying each key moment that a team member would experience at the event we were designing . We also integrated some visualization techniques by drawing these key moments . We described how the team member would experience and feel through each key moment or part of the event experience . Then , we reflected on them in order as if we were telling the story of the event in past tense . Insight : Rather than focusing on how we would plan the key moments , we focused on what the individuals would experience . By focusing on the user - perspective and his / her feelings at each key moment , it helped us to design an environment that was more comfortable and conducive to team building . It also helped us clarify how the flow of events would work .