Organisation’s narrative

Narratives are told everywhere - also at the coffee machine
kultur arbejdsplads culture at work

What narratives do you have? Do you talk to each other? Is the organisation like a big machine where the other departments are not human? Instead, they may be seen solely as requirements, for short deadlines and almost without value.

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Whether we find the stories in our organisation constructive or challenging, we can work with different tools to break or strengthen a dominant narrative. This is done to support the work that the organisation aims to deliver.

A narrative that creates opportunities for action gives those involved the opportunity for ownership. It gives the desire to contribute to a common goal.

It motivates us to work with the way we talk about ourselves, each other, and our organization.

When we work with our narratives, we can dive into the collaboration, the culture, and the language. Through various narrative methods and exercises, the participants gain experience of how a constructive and a problematic narrative can look like. It will be possible to see new paths and work together towards a new preferred story.

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Values ​​are a strategic foundation

Specially selected values ​​are part of the narratives of many organisations. They must create a clue for, for example, employees’ behaviour and priorities.

But how deeply are they rooted? With the team and the individual employee.

Dagbladet Børsen (in Danish) has a list of the ten most used values ​​in companies. The top ten of the values ​​look like this:

1) Integrity
2) Teamwork
3) Respect
4) Innovation / creativity
5) Customer focus
6) Trust
7) Open communication
8) Professionalism
9) Honesty
10) Accountability

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It shows that we have the same values ​​across companies. However, it does not show whether the perception and the use of them are the same. What does it look like in your organisation when the customer is at the centre? And is there e.g., a limit to trust?

Having an understanding as well as a recognition of what it means for you to live out your values ​​produces greater sense of meaning, ownership of values ​​as well as the strategic basis.

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Communicate so your recipient understands

Most of us have tried to say something that the recipient misunderstands. As a leader, we can believe that everyone in the room, in the team or project experiences things as ourselves. That we prioritise the same. They do not necessarily do that.

We can work to strengthen the understanding of each other and thus the communication. It happens by learning our own needs and habits as well as recognising the preferences of others. We work with different types of people and learn what traits we bring with us into a communication situation. Orally or in writing. At the same time, the participants get tools to read and adapt the message to the recipient, so we create greater effect.

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When we collaborate on the narratives, you get the opportunity to:

· Strengthen involvement and ownership in connection with, for example, changes via a common, constructive narrative.
· Develop and strengthen collaboration across the organisation (Read also: Team coaching)
· Get ​​your values ​​under the skin so you use them strategically (Read also: Well-being)
· Strengthen your communication in relation to e.g., changes and well-being work (Read also: Coaching)
· Know your own and colleagues’ needs so that your message burns through!