See Jessica’s bio, photo, and Part 1 of this Q&A and Part 2.
Q&A with Jessica Lipnack (continued):
Q: If you could share just one piece of advice or wisdom about story/storytelling/narrative with readers, what would it be?
A: Learn the craft of storytelling from the geniuses who write and who perform.
Q: Do you see a role for storytelling/sharing to build cohesiveness in virtual teams?
A: Very much so. When you’re bringing together people from diverse organizations, disciplines, cultures, countries, and time-zones, i.e., virtual teams, it usually means they don’t know one another. They come to know one another by sharing their stories, so this is a critical part of their work. Even the lowly conference call is a venue for telling stories. As a matter of fact, every conference call is a storytelling opportunity. To get “the voices in the room,” the opening to any good conference call, good facilitators/team leaders in essence ask people to tell a little story: What did you have for breakfast? What’s your favorite movie of all time? What music were you listening to before this call (or, if you’re one of the old breed that still travels to work ☺, what were you listening to on the commute)? These answers are mini-stories that build trust and cohesion.