Storytelling is a lost art. However, many entrepreneurs are discovering that storytelling is a useful tool to help boost company culture. Below, we’ve highlighted a few of how storytelling is transforming today’s business culture and how you can implement it into your company.
Why Storytelling Is Important
Storytelling is critical because it prompts people to take action. As consultant Thaler Pekar told a class at Stanford University, “When you share a story, you will spark a story. That is the power of the story: it is an emergent form of communication, possessing the ability to tap into the experiences of your listener. You can connect seemingly abstract, new information to your listener’s existing web of knowledge.”
Storytelling is especially useful for entrepreneurs, who are continually looking for ways to cope with a changing environment. Many entrepreneurs have found that by training managers to tell stories, the organization becomes more effective. So, how do you go about storytelling in today’s business culture?
Promote Storytelling In Your Workplace
Many entrepreneurs enjoy the convenience of remote teams. They believe that they can hire the best talent from anywhere. And while this is true, it also takes away from the ability to tell stories. It’s challenging to tell a story through forms of communication like email or Slack. Entrepreneurs should consider a flexible premium coworking space that brings the team together a couple of times per day.
Using a shared space is useful because it puts creative minds together. As one person tells a story, ideas will begin to flow. Shared spaces feature desks and meeting spaces that are close to one another, making it easy for employees to connect. Furthermore, you’ll also find employees from other companies in your shared space, further promoting the idea of collaboration.
Include Stories In Your Messages
When not in your shared space, you can still make efforts to tell stories. For instance, instead of merely signing off with something such as “Thanks for all you do,” consider adding a brief recap of what your employee did and why you appreciated his or her efforts.
For instance, we recently witnessed an employee working in one of our shared office spaces that caught our attention. The employee was a CPA. During tax season, the company was particularly busy. The employee’s wife was at home, expecting a child. However, the employee was always available for work, taking advantage of the shared office space to balance life between work and home.
Instead of merely saying, “Thanks for being here,” his bosses could thank him by saying something along the lines of, “We really appreciate all of the hard work you’ve put in over the past couple of weeks. We know how hard it can be to have an expecting mother at home, but your dedication to the company during a time of need did not go unnoticed.” This message clearly indicates the company’s appreciation.
