Challenge

I was leading a team that was working on a project on marketing research where the team had  to understand the image of the client’s brand and provide recommendations for improvements.  The management decision problem provided by the client put a lot of demand on resources  which were not plenty at the time. The team largely comprised of student volunteers who were  generally busy with the academic workload.

The expected outcome of the project was planning and execution of disguised marketing  research that allows for efficient data collection to gather authentic responses from the target  group. Hence the challenge before me was to define the research problem for the client  including all the variables. But this challenge extended to motivating the team members and  get creative ideas from them.

Selection

After analyzing all the scope of the issues and the possible repercussions, storytelling tool was  selected. Storytelling tool is uniquely positioned to address the need for optimizing the data  sharing among the team member for raising the engagement level. This aspect was especially  important for me as someone who held the leadership position. In this case, I could understand  the potential of the storytelling tool to empower me to affect the productivity both in terms of  the quality and quantity of the work done by other team members. I could also sense the  potential of the tool to help the other team members in connecting the dots in the research  process. This appreciation of their role in the project was expected to stimulate their creativity.

Application

The scope of the project seemed too big at the initial stages when the client provided the first  draft of the management problem. Coupled that with the resource constraint, the team had a  big challenge to overcome. The crucial task that I had as the team leader was to ensure that  each team member understands the entire research process to avoid any inefficiencies. This  understanding can also help in increasing the engagement level of the team members. Hence,  we employed the storytelling tool by creating a narrative for the research process and the plan  for execution. Even the process of creating disguised marketing research plan heavily involved  creating a relatable context and active efforts to connect all the elements of the research  design. The storytelling tool also helped us explain the rationale behind all the activities that  the team members undertook as part of the project. The final research design was product of  improvements that were made after running small test runs of various versions. These efforts  to run small tests like pilots allowed for improving the research design by eliminating the  identified flaws in the design.

Insight & Approach

The team members during the project execution were found to have come up with numerous  creative solutions to the issues that they faced during the research process. By understanding  the role of each small task in the entire journey, the importance of each activity was clear to  the team members which allowed them to stay motivated and come up with creative ideas  whenever they faced any obstacle. The tool was also effective in creating a common ground for  the team and aligning the motivations of the entire team to work towards a common goal. The  same effect was likely to be achieved by visualization tool. Visualization, like storytelling would  have been helpful in creating a single holistic image of the research process that could have  driven the project execution with greater motivation among the team members, more creative  solutions and higher productivity.


Challenge I was leading a team that was working on a project on marketing research where the team had to understand the image of the client ’s brand and provide recommendations for improvements . The management decision problem provided by the client put a lot of demand on resources which were not plenty at the time . The team largely comprised of student volunteers who were generally busy with the academic workload . The expected outcome of the project was planning and execution of disguised marketing research that allows for efficient data collection to gather authentic responses from the target group . Hence the challenge before me was to define the research problem for the client including all the variables . But this challenge extended to motivating the team members and get creative ideas from them . Selection After analyzing all the scope of the issues and the possible repercussions , storytelling tool was selected . Storytelling tool is uniquely positioned to address the need for optimizing the data sharing among the team member for raising the engagement level . This aspect was especially important for me as someone who held the leadership position . In this case , I could understand the potential of the storytelling tool to empower me to affect the productivity both in terms of the quality and quantity of the work done by other team members . I could also sense the potential of the tool to help the other team members in connecting the dots in the research process . This appreciation of their role in the project was expected to stimulate their creativity . Application The scope of the project seemed too big at the initial stages when the client provided the first draft of the management problem . Coupled that with the resource constraint , the team had a big challenge to overcome . The crucial task that I had as the team leader was to ensure that each team member understands the entire research process to avoid any inefficiencies . This understanding can also help in increasing the engagement level of the team members . Hence , we employed the storytelling tool by creating a narrative for the research process and the plan for execution . Even the process of creating disguised marketing research plan heavily involved creating a relatable context and active efforts to connect all the elements of the research design . The storytelling tool also helped us explain the rationale behind all the activities that the team members undertook as part of the project . The final research design was product of improvements that were made after running small test runs of various versions . These efforts to run small tests like pilots allowed for improving the research design by eliminating the identified flaws in the design . Insight & Approach The team members during the project execution were found to have come up with numerous creative solutions to the issues that they faced during the research process . By understanding the role of each small task in the entire journey , the importance of each activity was clear to the team members which allowed them to stay motivated and come up with creative ideas whenever they faced any obstacle . The tool was also effective in creating a common ground for the team and aligning the motivations of the entire team to work towards a common goal . The same effect was likely to be achieved by visualization tool . Visualization , like storytelling would have been helpful in creating a single holistic image of the research process that could have driven the project execution with greater motivation among the team members , more creative solutions and higher productivity .