As managing member of Prose&Coms, I work collaboratively with clients as well as other service providers.
It would be easy to describe my work in terms of outputs such as: strategic communications, training, writing, conference speaking and consultation, but narrative work entail more than any delineated subject area. Narrative work is embedded in a worldview that considers relationships in the world as essentially complex, and knowledge and meaning as emergent through these interrelationships.
Narrative work provides a way to make sense of complex relationships in organizations. My interest in using narrative methods is in creating opportunities in which people can interact and share experiences and knowledge. In such a way they can come to a better understanding of themselves in relation to others in and outside the organization. When people participate in meaningful conversations about the vision, challenges, responsibilities, work and value of the organization in relation to themselves and other stakeholders of the organization, they usually build a stronger sense of accountability to one another and other stakeholders, not only in terms of their internal relationships or responsibilities, but also in terms of the organization's vision and reputation.
Dealing with complex relationships through narrative means is normative in essence: People engage with one another, have conversations, question and disagree, and agree on specific actions to be taken, and then enter in dialogue again, giving feedback and making adjustments. In such a way, narrative work allows an organization to continuously work across the silos that usually form between functional areas. For instance, instead of reporting in a linear way, and making decisions based on unrelated accounts from various functional areas in a business, reporting becomes an interactive and integrative activity. In this way, the voices of people, who are not normally consulted in strategic and business decisions, can be heard and contribute to the making of more informed decisions. Narrative work is therefore essential in creating the ethical sensibilities necessary to maintain an ethically responsive work environment.
The research we do is aimed at dealing with multiple perspectives in and about an organization. The corporate publications we publish are aimed at engaging with people in the different subcultures that form in an organization, and the conference workshops I conduct, are based on complex facilitation methods such as World Café, storytelling and other participatory methods that allow for diverse voices to be heard and new, or other interpretations to emerge. Similarly, the skills training I do, is done in a participatory manner, allowing participants to share their knowledge, to agree or disagree, but always to learn from one another, and to come to a better understanding of their work in relation to their organization's vision and purpose. In this way, I contribute to an organization's requirements to employ people who can work effectively and intelligently, and understand and be accountable for their place, their responsibility and their value as employees. In such a way, the work Prose&Coms does, gives our clients a return on their investment.
