Reflection - Storytelling 

 Challenge : 

 I work Commercial Department of a large corporation and the department is essentially made up   of 2 types of Commercial Manager ( 1 ) Commercial Manager Category ( 2 ) Commercial Manager   New Product Development . At our annual conference in 2017 we were brainstorming areas   where we were not engaging effectively with our internal customers . Our main challenge was a   lack of understanding by our stakeholders as to what each of the roles in the department does .   Feedback from our internal customers had shown that they did not understand the difference   between a Category Manager and a New Product Development Manager . The result of this lack   of understanding was the stakeholders saw us as difficult to deal with , having a confused   structure and therefore they often bypassed our department altogether , which created added risk   for the whole organisation . 

 I was tasked to find a way to communicate to our main stakeholders ( Marketing and Technical )   what our function does , how to engage with us and who in the department does what . I decided   to use storytelling using visuals as a strategy for tackling this problem . 

 Application : 

 I obtained a time slot at the Marketing and Technical 6 monthly review under the area of   improvements and efficiencies agenda . 

 My plan was to take the attendees on a journey of understanding , and I mapped out what   information we wanted them to receive based on their previous feedback of their lack of   understanding . I mapped the information on a storyboard from lack of understanding to fully   understanding , then at each stage I considered what story ( metaphor ) could I tell which would   help them understand our roles , something that would create a memorable , lasting visual in their   minds . 

 Instead of describing a category manager as their role and what they do ( negotiating contracts ,   looking for risk , managing suppliers ) I created a visual and a script around the category manager   sitting on top of a mountain with a telescope looking out across the landscape , and I talked to   their role and how their mind works from a series of stories of successes and failures . 

 I then took them through a similar exercise with the New Product Development ( NPD ) manager   role where I created a visual and a story around the NPD manager pulling a trolley behind him up   the mountain ( the trolley contained the NPD projects ) and behind him being guided was the NPD   team of which the manager is part of . Again I told stories about what goes on in an NPD   managers head ( with thought bubbles ) and threaded throughout historical successes and   failures . 

 Insight : 

 Using storytelling was more engaging for the audience , I was able to put them into the shoes of   the category manager or NPD manager so they understood the drivers for each . ( To give more   context – this was not the first time we had presented to these teams , but the traditional   PowerPoint presentation with words and graphs had not previously worked . ) This new approach   of taking them on the journey using story and visuals had a profound effect . We have noticed as   a team that our stakeholders are engaging with us more , but also that the enquiries are now   going to the right members of the team rather than through a convoluted process of forwarded   emails , which was previously the case . Our engagement score with our stakeholders has gone   up and we are now on the way being a ‘ trusted business partner ’ within the organisation . 

 Approach : 

 I would use the combination of storytelling and visualisation again because the results were so   profound . However for those more left brain members of the department ( ours and theirs ) I would   create an appendix containing the numbers / facts / charts which are comforting for those who   require hard data . 


EMAIL: 
ID_NUM: 
NAME_STUDENT: 
PHONE_NUM: 
STREET_ADDRESS: 
URL_PERSONAL: 
USERNAME: 

### Task: You are a PII (Personal Identity Information) Detection. Given a essays written by students, you have to identify ONLY the following:
NAME_STUDENT - The full or partial name of a student that is not necessarily the author of the essay. This excludes instructors, authors, and other person names.
EMAIL - A student’s email address.
USERNAME - A student's username on any platform.
ID_NUM - A number or sequence of characters that could be used to identify a student, such as a student ID or a social security number.
PHONE_NUM - A phone number associated with a student.
URL_PERSONAL - A URL that might be used to identify a student.
STREET_ADDRESS - A full or partial street address that is associated with the student, such as their home address.
### Input: Reflection - Storytelling 

 Challenge : 

 I work Commercial Department of a large corporation and the department is essentially made up   of 2 types of Commercial Manager ( 1 ) Commercial Manager Category ( 2 ) Commercial Manager   New Product Development . At our annual conference in 2017 we were brainstorming areas   where we were not engaging effectively with our internal customers . Our main challenge was a   lack of understanding by our stakeholders as to what each of the roles in the department does .   Feedback from our internal customers had shown that they did not understand the difference   between a Category Manager and a New Product Development Manager . The result of this lack   of understanding was the stakeholders saw us as difficult to deal with , having a confused   structure and therefore they often bypassed our department altogether , which created added risk   for the whole organisation . 

 I was tasked to find a way to communicate to our main stakeholders ( Marketing and Technical )   what our function does , how to engage with us and who in the department does what . I decided   to use storytelling using visuals as a strategy for tackling this problem . 

 Application : 

 I obtained a time slot at the Marketing and Technical 6 monthly review under the area of   improvements and efficiencies agenda . 

 My plan was to take the attendees on a journey of understanding , and I mapped out what   information we wanted them to receive based on their previous feedback of their lack of   understanding . I mapped the information on a storyboard from lack of understanding to fully   understanding , then at each stage I considered what story ( metaphor ) could I tell which would   help them understand our roles , something that would create a memorable , lasting visual in their   minds . 

 Instead of describing a category manager as their role and what they do ( negotiating contracts ,   looking for risk , managing suppliers ) I created a visual and a script around the category manager   sitting on top of a mountain with a telescope looking out across the landscape , and I talked to   their role and how their mind works from a series of stories of successes and failures . 

 I then took them through a similar exercise with the New Product Development ( NPD ) manager   role where I created a visual and a story around the NPD manager pulling a trolley behind him up   the mountain ( the trolley contained the NPD projects ) and behind him being guided was the NPD   team of which the manager is part of . Again I told stories about what goes on in an NPD   managers head ( with thought bubbles ) and threaded throughout historical successes and   failures . 

 Insight : 

 Using storytelling was more engaging for the audience , I was able to put them into the shoes of   the category manager or NPD manager so they understood the drivers for each . ( To give more   context – this was not the first time we had presented to these teams , but the traditional   PowerPoint presentation with words and graphs had not previously worked . ) This new approach   of taking them on the journey using story and visuals had a profound effect . We have noticed as   a team that our stakeholders are engaging with us more , but also that the enquiries are now   going to the right members of the team rather than through a convoluted process of forwarded   emails , which was previously the case . Our engagement score with our stakeholders has gone   up and we are now on the way being a ‘ trusted business partner ’ within the organisation . 

 Approach : 

 I would use the combination of storytelling and visualisation again because the results were so   profound . However for those more left brain members of the department ( ours and theirs ) I would   create an appendix containing the numbers / facts / charts which are comforting for those who   require hard data .
### Output: 