Reflection Storytelling

(Nathan Kumar)

Context  I work for a government agency that promote a culture and holistic system of lifelong learning  through the pursuit of skills mastery, and strengthen the ecosystem of quality education and  training. The challenge is a lot of our initiatives and programmes are through an individual- targeted strategy (think B2C model) and we’re now developing a enterprise-targeted strategy  (think B2B model).    Challenge  I chose to use the tool storytelling to achieve a shared understanding of a problem space  among a diverse group of stakeholders who view the challenge of skills mastery from very  different starting points.     The first step I took was to define who are stakeholders are. Our stakeholders inside the  agency included the various departments such as the middle and back offices and critically  the policy owners who had to understand a new mode of engaging with enterprise. Whereas  our stakeholders outside the agency include the training providers, the educational institutes  and the individuals who now have to be viewed as employees instead of individuals.     The second step I took was to identify, articulate and define the ‘what is’ existing state of the  problem. I articulated 2 key points in my story: the emotional reason why we needed to have  employees pursue skills master and the larger purpose of workforce development. In the  context of a retail business owner, I painted a situation where we continued on our individual- targeted strategy (i.e. the individual learns e-commerce skills) but the employer is not in  support of training the staff as they believe in the traditional means of doing their work (i.e. via  a brick-and-mortar business model) and there’s conflict as the individual doesn’t feel motivated,  valued or supported to execute their job.     Selection  I chose to use the tool storytelling as it has the ability to connects the stakeholders to the  emotions, the characters, the values that we want all to feel. This can then be linked back to  the purpose of why each party works or partners the government agency and gives them a  sense of why they do what they do.     The third step I took was to storyboard and following the three rules raised in the lecture.  These three rules include:

1. identifying is who's your audience,  2. demonstrating a clear sequence of events, and   3. having moments of reflection.

Asking the stakeholders to rank who was responsible for the training of the staff, all  unanimously pointed to the employer. Understanding that the employer was the key audience  that we wanted action from, we then explore what was their customer journey in the thinking  through why they would or would not send their staff for training. I drew from existing materials  such as research publications, opinion survey, audit reports from other countries on why  employers are not sending their staff from training. I also conducted informal interview with  the employers I know who both did and did not commit their staff to any form of training  allowing them to have a moment of reflection.

Application   The fourth step I took was to expand further on the “moments of reflection”, I decided to raise  questions to all internal and external stakeholders that Paul VanDeCarr 1 asked around  audience motivation, these include:

•  What do we want to achieve?

•  How do we reach our target audiences?

•  Who can help us achieve our goals?

•  And what stories do I tell them, or ask them to tell?

I then curated representation from various stakeholders to represent different organization or  area of interest. Each group receives post-it notes that that they can write on directly or raise  more questions to delve deeper around motivations. As each stakeholder articulated their  perspective, I record commonalities in the insights of each group, and then additional  insights came from earlier secondary literature. I then developed a 400-word narrative with  sound bites and quotes that combines the shared and new insights from the group  discussion around motivation for sending staff for training and played that back to the same  group to get further insights.     Insights & Approach  The fifth step we took was to develop the stories further with visual support and  dramatization. I explored the idea further with our communication’s team who then roped in  film makers who managed to portray the everyday struggles of a local business in real and  relatable ways, which then drives conversation and engagement with audiences. I found that  with dramatization of the narrative, together with audio visual editing, it further pierced into  employers to embody the importance of lifelong learning and skills mastery.     The sixth and final step I took was to work with the team to publish the new employer video.  The final product of the video can be viewed here: https://www.viddsee.com/video/bak-gia- eyeglasses/ks31k where the 400-word narrative was picked up to drive the storyboard for this  video. Embracing the use of dialect which is commonly used by the local  enterprises, ‘Bak  Gia’ (Hokkien for ‘eyeglasses’) is the story of a senior optician who refuses to embrace social  media, until a younger shop assistant shows him how it can save his business.     Since publishing the video, I’ve noticed many employers who watch the video recognise the  importance of keeping up with times and how sending their staff for training can benefit their  business model. The story has lent itself to resonate with the audience’s emotions and I’ve  witness many tear-jerking momemnts. Since discovering the merits of storytelling, next time I  would incorporate an immediate call-to-action in the video by directing them to our website  to learn more or pledge their support for training.

1 https://www.rapidtables.com/tools/notepad.html


Reflection Storytelling ( Nathan Kumar ) Context I work for a government agency that promote a culture and holistic system of lifelong learning through the pursuit of skills mastery , and strengthen the ecosystem of quality education and training . The challenge is a lot of our initiatives and programmes are through an individual- targeted strategy ( think B2C model ) and we ’re now developing a enterprise - targeted strategy ( think B2B model ) . Challenge I chose to use the tool storytelling to achieve a shared understanding of a problem space among a diverse group of stakeholders who view the challenge of skills mastery from very different starting points . The first step I took was to define who are stakeholders are . Our stakeholders inside the agency included the various departments such as the middle and back offices and critically the policy owners who had to understand a new mode of engaging with enterprise . Whereas our stakeholders outside the agency include the training providers , the educational institutes and the individuals who now have to be viewed as employees instead of individuals . The second step I took was to identify , articulate and define the ‘ what is ’ existing state of the problem . I articulated 2 key points in my story : the emotional reason why we needed to have employees pursue skills master and the larger purpose of workforce development . In the context of a retail business owner , I painted a situation where we continued on our individual- targeted strategy ( i.e. the individual learns e - commerce skills ) but the employer is not in support of training the staff as they believe in the traditional means of doing their work ( i.e. via a brick - and - mortar business model ) and there ’s conflict as the individual does n’t feel motivated , valued or supported to execute their job . Selection I chose to use the tool storytelling as it has the ability to connects the stakeholders to the emotions , the characters , the values that we want all to feel . This can then be linked back to the purpose of why each party works or partners the government agency and gives them a sense of why they do what they do . The third step I took was to storyboard and following the three rules raised in the lecture . These three rules include : 1 . identifying is who 's your audience , 2 . demonstrating a clear sequence of events , and 3 . having moments of reflection . Asking the stakeholders to rank who was responsible for the training of the staff , all unanimously pointed to the employer . Understanding that the employer was the key audience that we wanted action from , we then explore what was their customer journey in the thinking through why they would or would not send their staff for training . I drew from existing materials such as research publications , opinion survey , audit reports from other countries on why employers are not sending their staff from training . I also conducted informal interview with the employers I know who both did and did not commit their staff to any form of training allowing them to have a moment of reflection . Application The fourth step I took was to expand further on the “ moments of reflection ” , I decided to raise questions to all internal and external stakeholders that Paul VanDeCarr 1 asked around audience motivation , these include : • What do we want to achieve ? • How do we reach our target audiences ? • Who can help us achieve our goals ? • And what stories do I tell them , or ask them to tell ? I then curated representation from various stakeholders to represent different organization or area of interest . Each group receives post - it notes that that they can write on directly or raise more questions to delve deeper around motivations . As each stakeholder articulated their perspective , I record commonalities in the insights of each group , and then additional insights came from earlier secondary literature . I then developed a 400 - word narrative with sound bites and quotes that combines the shared and new insights from the group discussion around motivation for sending staff for training and played that back to the same group to get further insights . Insights & Approach The fifth step we took was to develop the stories further with visual support and dramatization . I explored the idea further with our communication ’s team who then roped in film makers who managed to portray the everyday struggles of a local business in real and relatable ways , which then drives conversation and engagement with audiences . I found that with dramatization of the narrative , together with audio visual editing , it further pierced into employers to embody the importance of lifelong learning and skills mastery . The sixth and final step I took was to work with the team to publish the new employer video . The final product of the video can be viewed here : https://www.viddsee.com/video/bak-gia- eyeglasses / ks31k where the 400 - word narrative was picked up to drive the storyboard for this video . Embracing the use of dialect which is commonly used by the local enterprises , ‘ Bak Gia ’ ( Hokkien for ‘ eyeglasses ’ ) is the story of a senior optician who refuses to embrace social media , until a younger shop assistant shows him how it can save his business . Since publishing the video , I ’ve noticed many employers who watch the video recognise the importance of keeping up with times and how sending their staff for training can benefit their business model . The story has lent itself to resonate with the audience ’s emotions and I ’ve witness many tear - jerking momemnts . Since discovering the merits of storytelling , next time I would incorporate an immediate call - to - action in the video by directing them to our website to learn more or pledge their support for training . 1 https://www.rapidtables.com/tools/notepad.html