Making Sense of Work Through Collaborative Storytelling: Building Narratives in Organisational Change

Collective sense making starts with individual stories. Stories influence how we construct our sense of self in relation to others and our social environment.

The stories we tell ourselves at work, particularly during times of change, impact our relationships and the collaboration with those who are engaged in the same work activities. Stories that we take for granted as ‘commonsense’ may not resonate with others, leading to conflict and tensions.

This book focuses on the development of collaborative practices through stories: from sharing stories to exchanging experiences and building a common narrative collectively.

With an interpretivist and embodied framing that focuses on work activities, this book describes the authors’ interventionist research method entitled ‘Collaborative Story Craft’. This method enables researchers and practitioners to design interventionist workshops for collaborative development and change based on implicit and explicit stories of the participants in their work environment.