Successful project management through storytelling -12th January 2016

Project leadership can be a balancing act: the fine line between building a strong vision, providing clarity for the way forward, motivating the project team, and managing the stakeholders. Sometimes it is about being that little bit theatrical to win hearts and minds: understanding that uncertainty, ambiguity, and challenging times require a slightly different approach in order to help yourself and others dig deep and make it happen.

Ingenuity and creativity are often tested in trying to weave the project vision with the tasks. Instead of the usual dry, trite phraseology and business vocabulary trotted out at project reviews with teams and boards, how can we use compelling narrative to build commitment and paint a picture of the future with strong images? 

On the 12th January, the Thames Valley branch was pleased to invite Stephen Carver to speak about the importance of good storytelling in project management. Stephen has a reputation of taking complex management concepts and being able to distil them down into highly informative and fun lectures. Using his usual fast paced and highly entertaining 'storytelling' techniques Stephen demonstrated the need for Project Managers to develop their own storytelling skills.

Ryan Wilcox
Volunteer Coordinator