Metaphors@Work
Systemic Modelling for groups as a team building and conflict resolution process
What is it?
Stage 1: The preparation work introduces participants to self-reflection and engages their interest prior to training, which increases motivation to learn. It gives people time to generate and being to develop metaphoric thinking.
Stage 2: 'When I'm working / learning / operating at my best, I'm like what'? 'A perfect team for me, in which I can operate at my best, is like what’?
Eliciting and developing individual models for the given context. This stage results in participants engaging in the uniqueness of their models and making sense of the specific behaviours that are inherent in their values and beliefs.
Stage 3: Sharing and Negotiating between the individual metaphoric models.
In this stage individuals ask each other clarification questions about each other's models. These questions are useful for revealing the values, styles and needs of the questioner and a skilled metaphor modeller can feed this information back into the group. This is the stage when the group's understanding of one another and the dynamics between them makes a quantum leap.
Stage 4: Participants negotiate a shared metaphor, for a specific outcome,
i.e. perfect team, project, merger, which supports each to operate at their best and to which each can fully commit. The way in which the group works together at this point should be symbolic of their new dynamics and understanding.
Stage 5: Using the shared metaphor as the basis for communication, the group now begin to discuss the real issues and tasks involved in the team, project, or merger and begin allocating resources and roles to each other. The speed and ease with which they do this will be markedly different from the ways in which they have worked before.
Two case studies of metaphors@work
Where does it come from?
Metaphors@Work was created by Caitlin Walker and is based on the work of David Grove, Penny Tompkins and James Lawley. It has been the subject of postgraduate research, evaluation and practice by Nancy Doyle and Caitlin Walker since 2001.
How do I get involved?
Training Attention run courses for people interested in experiencing the process for themselves and learning how it is facilitated. If you’d like to do this, or think the process would be useful for your team / organisation, just contact us for prices and availability.