Reflection Story Telling – Change to project team structure 

 Challenge 

 Several years ago , I took on a role to lead a newly formed team that would be responsible for the   design , build , and deployment of Finance activities for the replacement of an aging enterprise resource   planning system . This involved four large businesses within the North America region for a global   commodities company . The teams had previously been part of the business group and were now being   moved to a finance function . The main challenge that presented itself is that one team was fully formed   and had been working on their project for two years . Another team was getting started and had one   lead and two team members in place . The other two teams were mine to setup and hire the full team of   a lead and supporting staff . I needed to get the current team members to switch to a new function and   way of working along with getting to know me and my leadership style .     Selection 

 I chose story telling for my approach to working with the existing team members to get them on board   with the new structure . I have found this tactic to be successful in the past in both business and personal   experiences to gain trust and help people to see the future and vision of the team or product . I feel   more comfortable in telling stories especially if I can relate it back to a previous experience or situation   that helps the recipient understand what we are looking to accomplish and the purpose of the product .      Application 

 I started by planning individual discussions with team members to outline the new structure and   strategy by using visual aids of organizational charts , technology tools , and function teams that would be   available to support and streamline their project activities . I told the story of how the new structure   would help remove some of the ambiguity they were experiencing and give them expanded expert   resources that would be available to them as they worked through each project . As I met with each   team member , I asked them directly what questions or fears they had with the new structure . For those   questions that came up that I could immediately relate to , I gave them advice based on a similar story   that I could share . For most team members that put them at ease and I assured them they could always   reach out to me if they had additional concerns or questions that arose .    I made note of those most hesitant and resistant to the new structure . I followed up with them on a   regular basis either by engaging them in hallway conversations or scheduling time with them for   informal meetings . I would continue to reinforce the story of the process structure and fill in with any   new information . In addition , quarterly team meetings were held to review the progress to date and   update the team on new initiatives .     Insight 

 While it was a rocky start for several team members , over the course of time sharing these stories I   became a trusted advisor to both my direct reports and their team members . At the time , I did n’t realize   I was using a Design Thinking method , it was a go to I had used in the past and that I personally liked   because it helped me understand a new structure or feature . In the future I would be more intentional   about reaching out to the people who were hesitant to keep telling them the story and helping them to   understand in a shorter timeline . 

 Approach 

 I would use this approach in the future for this particular situation , as I and the team did not have any   input into the team structure of how the deployments would be managed . In my follow up meetings   with all team members , I realized how powerful it is to help people understand and feel comfortable in   their roles by sharing empathy with similar experiences . It ties us together , no matter our backgrounds   and unites us to a common goal . 


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 Story Telling – Change to project team structure 

 Challenge 

 Several years ago , I took on a role to lead a newly formed team that would be responsible for the   design , build , and deployment of Finance activities for the replacement of an aging enterprise resource   planning system . This involved four large businesses within the North America region for a global   commodities company . The teams had previously been part of the business group and were now being   moved to a finance function . The main challenge that presented itself is that one team was fully formed   and had been working on their project for two years . Another team was getting started and had one   lead and two team members in place . The other two teams were mine to setup and hire the full team of   a lead and supporting staff . I needed to get the current team members to switch to a new function and   way of working along with getting to know me and my leadership style .     Selection 

 I chose story telling for my approach to working with the existing team members to get them on board   with the new structure . I have found this tactic to be successful in the past in both business and personal   experiences to gain trust and help people to see the future and vision of the team or product . I feel   more comfortable in telling stories especially if I can relate it back to a previous experience or situation   that helps the recipient understand what we are looking to accomplish and the purpose of the product .      Application 

 I started by planning individual discussions with team members to outline the new structure and   strategy by using visual aids of organizational charts , technology tools , and function teams that would be   available to support and streamline their project activities . I told the story of how the new structure   would help remove some of the ambiguity they were experiencing and give them expanded expert   resources that would be available to them as they worked through each project . As I met with each   team member , I asked them directly what questions or fears they had with the new structure . For those   questions that came up that I could immediately relate to , I gave them advice based on a similar story   that I could share . For most team members that put them at ease and I assured them they could always   reach out to me if they had additional concerns or questions that arose .    I made note of those most hesitant and resistant to the new structure . I followed up with them on a   regular basis either by engaging them in hallway conversations or scheduling time with them for   informal meetings . I would continue to reinforce the story of the process structure and fill in with any   new information . In addition , quarterly team meetings were held to review the progress to date and   update the team on new initiatives .     Insight 

 While it was a rocky start for several team members , over the course of time sharing these stories I   became a trusted advisor to both my direct reports and their team members . At the time , I did n’t realize   I was using a Design Thinking method , it was a go to I had used in the past and that I personally liked   because it helped me understand a new structure or feature . In the future I would be more intentional   about reaching out to the people who were hesitant to keep telling them the story and helping them to   understand in a shorter timeline . 

 Approach 

 I would use this approach in the future for this particular situation , as I and the team did not have any   input into the team structure of how the deployments would be managed . In my follow up meetings   with all team members , I realized how powerful it is to help people understand and feel comfortable in   their roles by sharing empathy with similar experiences . It ties us together , no matter our backgrounds   and unites us to a common goal .
### Output: 