Project implementation stories
Project implementation stories are problem oriented and are told in the
course of project implementation. These stories give ideas about whether
the project is on the right track and about possible changes related to the
implementation of the project. Project implementation stories are, for
example, about finding solutions to technical problems. This means that
project implementation stories are often accurate and explicit descriptions
focusing on problems, and include explanations for the solutions.
These stories often lack a detectable plot. They are about problems and
how they got – or did not get – resolved, and why. In other words, project
implementation stories typically contain the context, the solution and
the explanation, which tells why the solution had the effect that it did. In
Orr’s (1990, 1996) ethnography of copy machine maintenance the ‘war
stories’ served as an important tool in the process of solving problems
as well as in the distribution of the maintenance workers’ experiences.
The service technicians shared knowledge not covered in manuals but
achieved through practical experience. In Orr’s study, the stories were
mainly distributed during lunch breaks and other informal occasions.
A project implementation story tells of the mechanism underlying the
result.
Because project implementation stories are often about problems, they
typically have a negative tone. Much of the challenge in storytelling
lies in creating settings that enable members to talk about what has
gone wrong, and how it can be fixed. However, irrespective of their
form and content, project implementation stories can often give accurate
explanations of the present problems of the project. This means that
these stories are quite different from project company stories which are
often inaccurate and in which the truth does not lie in facts, but in the
meaning.
However, it should be remembered that neither of these two types of
stories is ever a neutral, objective presentation, but rather a subjective
indication of the significance of the project to an individual storyteller,
project team, company, or other contexts, in which the stories are told.
Also, there are rarely two different, pure forms of stories, but rather stories
in which the current and past experiences interact. It is, however
crucially important to hear many versions of the same stories. Performed
storytelling entails a critical ambivalence. On the one hand a storytelling
can subordinate people, subsuming all in one grand story. On
the other hand storytelling practice in a project-based company can be
liberating, by showing people that there are many stories, storytellers
and storytelling events (Boje, 1995).
To sum up, the stories contain valuable knowledge about things
such as technology, customer and organizational culture, which are
often sources of problems. However, different stories create different
understanding. For example, project implementation stories are about
problems, and how they can be solved, while project company stories
are more about meanings, including the cultural issues of the company.
Narrative forms of knowledge sharing will enrich the understanding of
problems existing in projects and project-based companies.
The managers of project-based companies are in a key position in
advancing knowledge sharing with the help of storytelling. In the
practice this means, for example, that:
• They proclaim the usefulness of storytelling by different means, such
as in their keynote addresses and in the personnel bulletins of their
companies
• They create a company culture in which personal and informal faceto-
face interaction – and thus, also, storytelling – is valued
• They equip the known storytellers with appropriate storylines.
Mentoring
Mentoring can help to bring about change within project-base companies
because it encourages the reflection on behaviours and actions as
well as identifying options for doing things better (e.g. Whittaker and
Cartwright, 2002; Swap et al., 2004).
Mentoring is especially a relationship between two people – the mentor
and the mentee – in which trust and respect enables problems and
difficulties to be discussed in an open and supportive environment (e.g.
Conway, 1998: 39). By sharing experiences, issues and concerns within
an open and trusting environment, the mentee is able to develop and
grow and so to maximise her respective potential. ‘Mentoring is not
about two people having a conversation’ (Whittaker and Cartwright,
2002: 184); mentoring is a process that gives the mentee time and space
to talk through issues, ideas and situations that are unique to her. Thus,
the mentoring process is an activity by which competencies of a senior or
more experienced individual is transferred to a junior or less experienced
individual (Figure 6.3).
In practice, mentoring can take place in an informal or a formal way.
In both cases, mentoring is basically a one-to-one activity that can
take place in many different contexts and situations. There are differences
between informal and formal mentoring processes, however. Both
forms of mentoring are valuable, and may happily co-exist within the
company, but they are not the same thing.
Formal mentoring programmes are those that are formed by organizational
managers and typically have a defined duration and purpose.
For example, mentoring programmes used in training newcomers or less
experienced people are typically formal activities. In these programs,
mentors and mentees are assigned to work together, and the relationship
has a specific purpose defined by the organization. Table 6.1 summarizes
how the two mentoring forms are different.
Three key advantages concerning informal mentoring are:
• A relationship of trust and respect is present from the outset
• There is a high degree of compatibility and co-operation between the
individuals
• The relationship is flexible and personalized.