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Execute strategy through storytelling

September 26, 2012 10:02 am / Caroline

Organisational executives and leaders need to engage with the power of storytelling. Stories get people interested. They communicate the purpose behind what you are doing in a vivid way, in order to foster shared meaning. 

group-of-readers-md

Remember in a previous post I mentioned that “essentially re-socialisation is at the heart of change”, well then consider that stories have a lot of social content, and if mentally stimulating these stories lead to simulation of social experience, and the ability to infer the mental states of others (Raymond A Mar from the University of Toronto).

And we can further pull people into the change conversation by inviting them to contribute anecdotes and threads of their own to the story-line.

But if you keep your strategy locked behind the boardroom door, and don’t effectively engage and tap into the teams and people that can help turn that strategy into reality, then your strategy may remain a closed book.

Also people don’t always grasp statistics, report data or bullet points in complex often tedious presentations, but stories are easily assimilated because they are cross-cultural and capture the minds-eye. The human brain is hard-wired for stories, and they have the power to instantly stir up emotion and relatedness.

So story is a more inclusive way of explaining and presenting the strategy because everyone loves stories! Think about how teachers struggle to control mischievous children all day long but come story time at the end of the day: all sit quietly of their own will and listen with great curiosity as the storyteller evokes their imaginations. Think of the great politicians and leaders of our time, and how they used the power of stories to rally for action and change.

And so, you can be a better leader of your people by getting the strategy out of the boardroom and spreading it through the hallways of your organisation. And you can do this best by telling it and building it through story. Tell it with purpose and meaning. Tell it with passion. And plan it – have a beginning, middle and end. Who are the key role players? What’s in it for them? Explain how you see it unfolding from your perspective, and then open the floor to your community, and change your role at that point from storyteller to story-builder by inviting the contributions of others to build a much richer, deeper and co-created narrative.

Strategic storytelling is a way to translate strategy into something more tangible that sticks in people’s minds, gets people talking, gets people motivated and creates a common narrative that all can associate with and work towards.

Need help with your strategic storytelling?
Contact caroline@changestory.co.za

Posted in: Change Management, Change Story, Communication, Leadership

Sincere pursuit or hit & run?

August 20, 2012 12:08 pm / Caroline

I believe it is important to think of change management as an imperative philosophy that you and your business or department take on board and adopt holistically across the project lifecycle, rather than the single workshop, teambuilding or “expert intrusion” just before go-live.

That is why I am not a huge fan of the “hit and run” change management intervention or team rally that ONLY takes place just before go-live in order to tick-off the change management activity from the task list. This single intervention usually requires a full day or two or three crammed into a go-live schedule when people can least afford to be offsite. And although once-off interventions have their place in certain circumstances and I guess are better than nothing, to me they are usually too superficial to have a lasting effect. They seem to come across as being an afterthought rather than a sincere pursuit. They may only have the hope, if done properly, of “selling” the change to the affected stakeholders, and can never be passed off as co-creation. It is too late in the process to be allowing people to have their say, to be promising to incorporate their requirements and to be finding out people’s readiness issues for the first time.  The output to be expected from such an intervention is compliance and “buy-in” rather than ownership and commitment.

I would think it is much better to do a few light change management initiation and planning sessions early on in the project life-cycle, such as during the planning phase of the project, to gear people’s thinking towards the people-side readiness from the beginning, and get everyone’s input and to understand the needs that should be addressed . This will knit your project plan, your communication plan, your change management plan and your training plan nicely together from the start, and it will avoid duplication, confusion and working in silos.

Holistic change management planning and awareness upfront and throughout  prevents finding out about readiness and adoption issues very late in the implementation, it also utilises and builds on and taps into the internal team strengths and skills that you already have. It give the people who have to live with the change after go-live the means and the reasons to make the change their own.

Posted in: Change Story

Applying PMBOK Chapter 10 back at the office

August 8, 2012 2:19 pm / Caroline

Yes, to pass your PMP exam you need to cram chapter 10, is it, on Project Communications Management. So does it stop there, is it theory in a book that is used to pass an exam, or do you apply PMBOK chapter 10 back at the office?

Most of what you do as a project manager is communicate and plan, but do you plan to communicate? Do you sit yourself down when you’re assigned to a new project, and consider the impact on and the influence of the users, their bosses and any other relevant participants that may be affected by and affecting the change that you are trying to bring about?

Do you fundamentally understand that you are busy bringing about a change in people’s lives, their work lives, their departments, their business operations, where they spend a good chunk of time each day, and where they probably have some or other vested interest in the status quo, which you and your project team are busy directly or indirectly challenging? Do you see that their knee-jerk resistance is quite normal and understandable, and do you contemplate how you may get them to stop resisting and to start driving the change forward, which usually requires quite a mind-set adjustment for most mortals when it comes to change.

Do you take it a step further and plot their names, and roles, and attitudes on what we may call a people radar or a stakeholder map and then analyse their level of understanding of what the project is delivering, their information needs, and assess how their individual commitment to change affects your overall project success. And then how you plan to go about sharing information and conversations with this project community to give them the reasons and the means to change and succeed, so that you and your project team can succeed. Well, have you?

PMBOK chapter 10 is about people people people, it’s about communicate communicate communicate. Don’t leave it on the shelf after the exam, apply it back at the office.

Posted in: Change Management, Change Story, Communication, PMO, Project Management

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