Page 1 of 2 

 Overview : My experience in using Storytelling tool as part of Design Thinking method , for defining a framework for   gathering business requirements , for a complex multi - vendor multi - country IT transformation project 

 Reflection – Storytelling 

 Challenge   I am a project manager for a world - leading IT Services company . My company has recently won a   systems integration contract from a major telecom services provider in Europe . The contract is for an IT   systems transformation project for multiple operating units in different countries . It is a digital   transformation project , wherein the telecom operator wants to transform their businesses in the chosen   countries and replace old IT systems with new state - of - the - art IT systems . Key objectives of the program   are to improve end - customer experience in these countries , reduce time - to - market of new products &   services , harmonize business processes across these different countries , bring in latest technology ,   reduce maintenance cost of IT systems in the long run and being able to provide new - age digital   products & services to end - customers .   This is a very ambitious program . Such a program has never been tried in the Europe region in the   telecom market . There are no existing case studies for such an engagement in terms of size , scope and   complexity . Therefore , it a good opportunity to use some concepts of Design Thinking .   Moreover , we were not the only vendor . The primary vendor for this program was the product vendor   itself ( which is unusual ) . Typically , it ’s the other way round , as in systems integration ( SI ) vendor   generally plays the role of primary vendor in such IT programs and the product vendors ’ work under the   SI .    The specific challenge came about 1 month after the kick - off of the project . The main vendor had   started the business requirements gathering workshops and after 4 weeks of workshops , the project   came to a grinding halt . Client was very unhappy with the way primary vendor was running the   workshops and were completely unsatisfied with the outcome workshops achieved after 4 weeks .       Selection   I and my team took this standstill in workshops as an opportunity . Even though we were the secondary   vendor , but coming from a systems integration ( SI ) background , we could grasp ( or understand ) the   underlying fundamental issue . Issue was that the ‘ Big Picture ’ was missing . And the client was expecting   that the primary vendor will show them the way , will paint the big picture , will help their business users   understand why their senior management has decided to launch a transformation project . But the   primary vendor failed to fulfil this ( unwritten ) client expectation .    After identifying the issue , we proactively reached out to key stakeholders from client side . It was not a   regular meeting . This was too complex an issue to be handled by just creating simple MS powerpoint   slide deck . We took a holistic approach and created a compelling story that would resonate with all   levels of stakeholders , using tools like videos , client testimonials , cardboard cut - outs , board drawings   etc . 

 Page 2 of 2 

 Application   The most innovative thing we did was that we created cardboard cut - out of a man and a woman . We   placed these cut - outs in the meeting room . These cut - outs represented the end - customers of our   clients . We also printed out an entire customer journey , from beginning when a new customer starts as   a prospect , till the end when a customer decides to leave . We pasted this long customer journey chart   on one side of the meeting room . Lastly , we brought - in people from our organization who had   successfully similar projects in other geographies to talk about their experiences .     The cardboard customer cut - out made the biggest impact in our meeting . Our side always kept end- customer in the centre of our story . We used to physically point to ( cardboard ) customers . This helped   drive home the point , that biggest beneficiary of our transformation project has to be the end - customer .    At the end , we were able to successfully convince the client that the new methodology suggested by us   should be adopted to run the business requirements workshops . If we would have gone - in with a   standard presentation with bullet points , graphs , charts etc , then it would not have made any real   impact . The fact that we focussed on creating a story around the client ’s end - customer , really made a   significant impact , and affected meaningful change .        Insight   The biggest insight that I gained was that storytelling really works . It helps simplifying complex   messages . It helps breaking silos within teams , and it increases people ’s excitement and motivation . It is   a natural tendency of people to be sceptical to new ideas and be generally against drastic change . A well   drafted story helps people to get engaged . And , once people are engaged , it becomes easier for a   message to get transferred .    Another very significant personal insight that I gained was the importance of listening in storytelling . A   story has to be very contextual and the story teller has to be open to customizing his or her story based   on the feedback from people . Hence , having good listening skills is essential to be a good storyteller .         Last insight gained was the difference between an overarching story and small sub - stories . An   overarching story is like an epic . And one epic can have multiple stories . Having a grand epic helps a lot .        Approach   As you can expect , there were multiple follow - up meetings with client after the first meeting . We took   the concept of keeping our storytelling , with end - customer at the centre , even further . We involved our   sub - vendors in the storytelling sessions . We even invited the primary vendor on the same platform and   they also appreciated our effort and liked the new methodology . Because of the common and easily   understandable message , everyone was able to rally behind the same storyline . 


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: Page 1 of 2 

 Overview : My experience in using Storytelling tool as part of Design Thinking method , for defining a framework for   gathering business requirements , for a complex multi - vendor multi - country IT transformation project 

 Reflection – Storytelling 

 Challenge   I am a project manager for a world - leading IT Services company . My company has recently won a   systems integration contract from a major telecom services provider in Europe . The contract is for an IT   systems transformation project for multiple operating units in different countries . It is a digital   transformation project , wherein the telecom operator wants to transform their businesses in the chosen   countries and replace old IT systems with new state - of - the - art IT systems . Key objectives of the program   are to improve end - customer experience in these countries , reduce time - to - market of new products &   services , harmonize business processes across these different countries , bring in latest technology ,   reduce maintenance cost of IT systems in the long run and being able to provide new - age digital   products & services to end - customers .   This is a very ambitious program . Such a program has never been tried in the Europe region in the   telecom market . There are no existing case studies for such an engagement in terms of size , scope and   complexity . Therefore , it a good opportunity to use some concepts of Design Thinking .   Moreover , we were not the only vendor . The primary vendor for this program was the product vendor   itself ( which is unusual ) . Typically , it ’s the other way round , as in systems integration ( SI ) vendor   generally plays the role of primary vendor in such IT programs and the product vendors ’ work under the   SI .    The specific challenge came about 1 month after the kick - off of the project . The main vendor had   started the business requirements gathering workshops and after 4 weeks of workshops , the project   came to a grinding halt . Client was very unhappy with the way primary vendor was running the   workshops and were completely unsatisfied with the outcome workshops achieved after 4 weeks .       Selection   I and my team took this standstill in workshops as an opportunity . Even though we were the secondary   vendor , but coming from a systems integration ( SI ) background , we could grasp ( or understand ) the   underlying fundamental issue . Issue was that the ‘ Big Picture ’ was missing . And the client was expecting   that the primary vendor will show them the way , will paint the big picture , will help their business users   understand why their senior management has decided to launch a transformation project . But the   primary vendor failed to fulfil this ( unwritten ) client expectation .    After identifying the issue , we proactively reached out to key stakeholders from client side . It was not a   regular meeting . This was too complex an issue to be handled by just creating simple MS powerpoint   slide deck . We took a holistic approach and created a compelling story that would resonate with all   levels of stakeholders , using tools like videos , client testimonials , cardboard cut - outs , board drawings   etc . 

 Page 2 of 2 

 Application   The most innovative thing we did was that we created cardboard cut - out of a man and a woman . We   placed these cut - outs in the meeting room . These cut - outs represented the end - customers of our   clients . We also printed out an entire customer journey , from beginning when a new customer starts as   a prospect , till the end when a customer decides to leave . We pasted this long customer journey chart   on one side of the meeting room . Lastly , we brought - in people from our organization who had   successfully similar projects in other geographies to talk about their experiences .     The cardboard customer cut - out made the biggest impact in our meeting . Our side always kept end- customer in the centre of our story . We used to physically point to ( cardboard ) customers . This helped   drive home the point , that biggest beneficiary of our transformation project has to be the end - customer .    At the end , we were able to successfully convince the client that the new methodology suggested by us   should be adopted to run the business requirements workshops . If we would have gone - in with a   standard presentation with bullet points , graphs , charts etc , then it would not have made any real   impact . The fact that we focussed on creating a story around the client ’s end - customer , really made a   significant impact , and affected meaningful change .        Insight   The biggest insight that I gained was that storytelling really works . It helps simplifying complex   messages . It helps breaking silos within teams , and it increases people ’s excitement and motivation . It is   a natural tendency of people to be sceptical to new ideas and be generally against drastic change . A well   drafted story helps people to get engaged . And , once people are engaged , it becomes easier for a   message to get transferred .    Another very significant personal insight that I gained was the importance of listening in storytelling . A   story has to be very contextual and the story teller has to be open to customizing his or her story based   on the feedback from people . Hence , having good listening skills is essential to be a good storyteller .         Last insight gained was the difference between an overarching story and small sub - stories . An   overarching story is like an epic . And one epic can have multiple stories . Having a grand epic helps a lot .        Approach   As you can expect , there were multiple follow - up meetings with client after the first meeting . We took   the concept of keeping our storytelling , with end - customer at the centre , even further . We involved our   sub - vendors in the storytelling sessions . We even invited the primary vendor on the same platform and   they also appreciated our effort and liked the new methodology . Because of the common and easily   understandable message , everyone was able to rally behind the same storyline .
### Output: 