Most software project managers find it quite challenging to capture, learn, and reuse their own experiences and the experiences of others. Often these experiences remain in the minds of the project manager and are not shared with others. Also, if a project manager fails to reflect on his or her experiences, the knowledge may be forgotten on the next project.
Stacie Petter, Assistant Professor in Information Systems and Quantitative Analysis (ISQA), began this research to help project managers better learn from experiences on software projects. Petter's current research in this area attempts to identify ways storytelling could be used to share knowledge related to projects (or in other contexts) and then tests the effectiveness of this approach.
To date, Petter has developed a process that utilizes storytelling to communicate experiences among software project managers. She has also evaluated this process scientifically and tried to determine if it is indeed possible to exchange knowledge in this manner.
The experiment started by asking software project managers to solve a specific problem by designing a scientific experiment using research method, focus and innovation to solve the problem. The goal was to examine Petter's process and determine if her initial assumption is true, that it is possible to share and reuse knowledge related to project management via stories. The experiment revealed certain limitations with the process and methods used to share knowledge; however, the initial assumption was confirmed. It was made clear that it is possible to share experiences with project managers using stories.
The next phase of research is to improve this process of knowledge reuse using storytelling. This can be accomplished by conducting further research using traditional research methods such as surveys, interviews, and case studies.
Petter is now working to propose solutions to the problems associated with knowledge management rather than merely describing them. There is still a question about whether people would actively seek out stories when faced with a problem. This is one of many barriers to knowledge management in the workplace. Petter is aware of these barriers and has set out to find ways of alleviating them.
Faculties Involved
- Dr. Stacie Petter
"Storytelling is a natural activity of humans and is a common way to frame problems and solutions. People tell stories to teach lessons to their children, to share the history of their families, and to relate to one another. However, once they enter the workplace and are required to capture, share, and reuse knowledge in the workplace, they begin to take the context and the story out of the knowledge to make it sound more robust and credible."
-Stacie Petter, ISQA Assistant Professor
