Strategy Stories
Strategic Storytelling
A common challenge for organisations and leaders is how to engage and excite employees with a new strategy.
Time and again we see leaders using “town hall” presentations to share their strategies, which often result in a lack of understanding and engagement in the future direction.
Leaders need to use a clear, purposeful narrative to explain where the organisation is going, why it matters and how people can contribute to that future. Yet many leaders lack the confidence and skills to blend strategic thinking with story structure so that complex plans become meaningful, memorable and motivating.
How We Help
This is where we can help.
Using our unique ChangeStories® storymaking tools, we work with leaders and change teams to help them develop their strategic storytelling skills and build story principles into all of their strategy communications.
This includes:
A clear “why” — the purpose or problem driving the strategy.
A compelling future state — what the organisation is trying to create, in particular what day to day work will look and feel like.
A bridge from now to next — how the strategy moves the organisation forward.
Human meaning — why people should care and how they fit into the story.
What This Looks Like in Practice
Here’s a snapshot of the kind of impact we create through strategic storytelling projects.
Creating a Shared Strategy Through Storytelling
An organisation that had been newly created (following the split of a larger organisation into two parts) wanted to develop a shared strategy and use storytelling methods to share this strategy in the most engaging way. We designed and delivered a hybrid storytelling workshop for the client which included pre work videos and e-learning to provide the theory learning and then a half day face to face workshop providing opportunities for leaders to practice both their leadership story and a strategy story.The outcome of this work was a set of engaging stories that were immediately ready to be shared with employees. The feedback from employees was excellent and the stories led to more open communication by the leadership team.
Facilitating Collaborative Story Circles
Facilitating story circles for a variety of organisations and teams to create collaborative oral stories resulting in rich and complex shared stories that could then be used within the organisation and with key stakeholders.
Supporting Leadership Communication During Change
Working with the new CEO of a major charity to develop core communication messages to reflect the change in direction that she wanted to take the organisation on. We then worked with her to draft a script to use in a recorded webinar as well as content for regular blogs and e-mails. These materials enabled her to clearly articulate the strategy and create engagement and excitement amongst the team.
How We Can Work Together
We can support organisations and leaders in a number of ways:
Sign up to our online change and storytelling community for access to free webinars and storytelling resources