Exploring the System

Many organisations, even those with flat management structures, can experience a disconnect between senior leadership and their frontline workforce. It is essential to rectify this when considering a new strategic approach or change programme. It is notoriously difficult however, to investigate cultural issues using internal resources, especially when communication presents itself as one of the challenges.

Sometimes an external perspective is necessary to gain the trust of a workforce and get to the root cause of an issue. An objective stand point enables employees to speak their Truth to Power, and deliver open and honest feedback directly back to Leadership teams; everything can be discussed and nothing is off the table. That is not a conversation that can be held from a position of power.

There are more reasons to undertake a cultural analysis than just data collection.

Understanding what is happening

Unlike formal surveys or survey platforms, we don’t just find out ‘what’ is happening but also ‘why’ and ‘where’.

When facilitating with a visual tool it is possible to get groups into dialogue around a variety of issues and explore them between themselves. The richness of the data we capture provides context, causation and consequence.

We analyse the data through a thematic analysis methodology. This is a process of analyzing qualitative data and principally codes and drawing out key themes. The methodology allows for description of what has been heard as well as interpretation of what it might mean.

Spaces for Cathartic Conversations

Catharsis is fundamental to achieving any form of change. For people to be able to consider a new strategy or direction it is important to allow them to recognise what does or does not work in the organisation and express their frustrations.

Where there are fundamental organisational challenges it is important that people experience being heard and for leaders to actually hear; engagement should not be a tick box exercise.

Through Catharsis comes Change.

Building Internal Relationships

Through the action of asking people about “what’s happening” in mixed, cross functional groups it is possible to begin to forge internal relationships that otherwise weren’t possible. Organisations naturally work in silos making it difficult to get a system wide understanding; by getting people from different parts of a business to share their reality, people can begin to see themselves as part of the whole, and not in isolation.