Engagement and Buy-In:
The Use of Stories in Project Management
Larry Forster
Shell Exploration and Production Co., Inc.
Larry Forster is a Staff Engineer with Shell Exploration and Production Co., and works in Technology Planning and Implementation in New Orleans. Involved with technology throughout his 25+ year career with Shell, Larry is a pioneer in the use of story and collaboration, and is mentioned in the recently published Wake Me Up When the Data Is Over: How Organizations Use Stories to Drive Results, edited by Lori Silverman, Jossey-Bass, 2006.
Synopsis
I recently witnessed a presentation of a well-organized, well-structured project plan. "We need engagement and buy-in," the project manager repeated over and over. As he talked through the Gantt chart, describing tasks and milestones, I kept asking myself, where is the "engagement and buy-in" in the project plan? Where does this appear on the chart?
"Engagement and Buy-In" is the people thing. How do you do it? The question keeps coming up in project management circles, in performance benchmarking circles, product innovation circles, round and round we go. But there is a secret, a secret language, which will make a difference. The secret language of stories.
