Recently I had the honor of meeting with the Project Management Institute (PMI) Cyprus Chapter and discussing storytelling in project management.
One of the areas I highlighted in my presentation was what I call the "Stickiness" Quadrant. If you want to share a story that "sticks" in the minds of your audience, your clients, your team members - it needs to possess these four elements:
- Struggle
- Solution
- Resonance
- Helpfulness
If you just focus on struggle, it's complaining.
If you just focus on solution, it's preaching.
If it's not relevant and doesn't resonate, it's bragging.
If it's not helpful, it's discouraging.
But when you have all four, it's engaging. It's inspiring. It's memorable in all the best ways possible.
After the presentation there was some Q&A. One project manager asked if she should take on projects where she didn't have the deep technical expertise of the team members (for example, software development) and just focus on managing projects where she already has domain expertise. That was a great question!
I answered with a story. Watch this video and see if it adheres to the "Stickiness Quadrant."
