The Images of Organisations can be used in many different situations. Here are some simple examples but feel free to generate your own!
-
At the start of a online conference or training programme in which delegates do not know each other
As the participants arrive, ask them to choose one or two images that say something about their working lives!
In plenary or when they move to their conference breakout groups, ask them to introduce themselves to each other by explaining why they chose the cards they did. This allows them to say a lot about their current work positions and also perhaps to move towards personal objectives for the programme.
-
As a way of finding out about different perspectives amongst team members
Are different individuals experiencing very different things at the same time? Are some under much more pressure than others? Is one person’s exciting change another’s nightmarish upheaval? Who may need support and who is in a position to offer it?
-
As a lead-in to team action planning at the end of a team development programme
Summarise the work that the team has done and their enhanced understanding by completing the ‘current state/desired state’ activity. However good the team is, there will be scope for improvement. Focus on that by working with the ‘ideal’ team image. (If none of the images fit, ask the group to describe their ideal image!)
-
In specialist events such as strategic planning workshops or risk assessment workshops
As a team looks ahead to the challenges it is facing, how do team members feel? Which of the images represent real risks or challenges? What can the team do to recognise these now and build strategies to either avoid the risks altogether or create options if the risks do emerge?
-
In exploring organisational values
What do the individual images that team members have chosen say about their individual values? What is important to them about working in this team/on this project/as part of this organisation? How are those individual values represented in team or organisational values?
Enjoy working with the Images of Organisations toolbox!
