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Difficulties
keeping up with the speed of change in IT and the
complexity of today’s business structures?
Systemic organisational constellations can help
you.
Ever wondered about the success
of companies such as Google, You Tube and My
Space? How do wiz kids and other business people
keep up with the speed of change and create and
maintain a thriving company? Don’t think you have the knack? Ever considered
that it can be learned? Today’s business
structures are complex and fast changing. Rational
and intellectual skills are no longer enough to
bring clarity. Systemic organisational constellation
is a tool for fast and immediate insights into the hidden
dynamics of business. To find out more
about it read this page, or follow these links:
Systemic organisational
constellations are not, of themselves, a panacea.
They are but one tool in many, and are used in
addition to existing, more conventional, management
tools. For workshop information refer to our schedule.
| So,
what are systemic organisational constellations? |
|
Systemic organisational constellations are systemic
constellations applied to organisational, business or team issues.
The systemic organisational constellation
method is a spatial representation of a system. The
elements of the system displayed in space can
be people, functions, products or ideas. The
representatives for these elements can be people,
floor markers or figures. These representatives
are placed in a spatial relationship to each
other. The system is now portrayed symbolically,
reflecting the client’s inner image of
a situation.
Systemic organisational constellations are an intervention
that helps you look behind the appearance of a
problem, to come closer to the root cause.
The techniques and processes for systemic organisational
constellations have originally been developed in
a family therapy context by Bert Hellinger and
were called family constellations .
Through the initiative of Gunthard
Weber, this systemic-phenomenologic method
has transferred successfully into organisational
and business consulting environments in just a
few years. Many other innovative practitioners
have contributed, driven by an interest in the
dynamics of social systems beyond families, the
most ancient form of organisation.
Please refer to the family
constellations page
for a step-by-step description of the process.
As a key difference to family constellations, organisational
constellations often focus on functions and tasks
rather than persons, and use additional techniques,
such as:
Outcome definition: a clear goal
is stated by using solution focussed techniques
Fact gathering: what does this
organisation do
Fact gathering: organagrams give
a logical overview of the hierarchy in the organisation
at this point in time
Fact gathering: orgenograms give
information about the history of the organisation
and critical developments that have occurred
Hypothesis forming: a close
exchange with the client keeps the focus on the
task and helps develop systemic awareness
Process work: remains in the
context of the goal and the client’s position
in the organisation
Completion of the constellation:
time is given to collect new ideas on how to
use the received information back in the workplace
Important factors that are taken into consideration
when working with in systemic organisational constellations
are:
Acknowledgement and honouring of position, contribution
and time
Stating facts such as secrets or reversal of order
Reappraise injustice and unfair or disrespectful
acts
Various types of organisational systems
have different dynamics which
we take into consideration when working with your organisation:
- Profit oriented
businesses and enterprises
- Family businesses
- Sponsored or non-profit organisations
- Government
owned companies or departments
Systemic organisational constellations can also be applied to abstract
issues, such as decisions,
proposition testing,
the implementation
of new IT systems and career development.
| Systemic
Structural Constellations |
|
Matthias
Varga von Kibed and Ingrid Sparrer have
developed systemic structural constellations
with specific predefined constellation setups to
be able to represent mental concepts and
inner images when dealing with issues such as pursuing
a goal or having to make a decision. The basic
process of the constellation stays the same. Elements
used in these constellations include:
- Focus
- Goal
- Resources
- Obstacles
- The first option
- The other option
- What comes after
Some of these systemic structural
constellation models have been built into our program
and are applied depending on the request and context
of the client.
| Systemic
Management Constellations |
|
For certain issues, such as testing strategies,
values or branding possibilities, systemic organisational
constellations can be held in-house with members
of the company as representatives. The
process is adapted to help management and teams
to find clarity and insights in a task oriented
approach during a meeting and is referred to
as systemic management constellations.
Special techniques are used to keep the representative
feedback neutral, such as exchanging positions
regularly to receive a feedback from more than
one person in a particular position. Another possibility
is to work with the representatives not knowing
who or what they represent during the process of
the constellation. Identities, such as A, B, or
C, are used as described above. The intention for
the constellation is discussed in the group, followed
by the team leader choosing the representatives
according to an initially secret list. This variety
has been refined in particular by Henriette
Katharina Lingg, Georg Senoner and Claude Rosselet.
The constellation process can be video taped and
subsequently watched and discussed by the whole
team with the identities of the representatives
available to everybody.
Systemic management constellations are
a format that:
- Are practiced by members of a
team
- Work purely on a task level
- Help
to resolve issues of getting organised around
a task
- Are an intervention that is part
of a variety of other interventions
- Are compatible
with other systemic processes and often used
in combination
| Benefits
of systemic organisational constellations |
|
Because systemic organisational
constellations include
the subconscious level or our mind, they bring
together contrasts that were previously considered
incompatible. They are both, fast and
complete, specific and symbolic, and above all
they are solution and process oriented.
They are an intervention that:
- Helps you find new
perspectives
- Ensures communication about communication
- Improves
decision making
- Demands precise thinking
- Supports
differentiation of feelings
- Invites consistent,
appropriate action
Systemic
organisational constellations can bring important
and useful information to light and set an issue
into a new context, offering alternative possibilities
and a different way to look at a particular question. In
addition, through
participation in systemic organisational constellation
you can feel yourself enter into a role of a
total stranger in a depth that is rare
in everyday life.
The solutions that emerge from systemic organisational
constellations are not a scatter gun approach,
with shots in various directions with the hope
that some would find the target. Systemic
organisational constellations initiate focussed
and long-term development, and as a
diagnostic instrument they can be used to answer
questions such as:
- What is going on in this situation,
this organisation or system
- How do I manage my
business best
- What can I add
- What needs my attention
- When do
business and staff function well
- How should I
set up an organisation
- What is my own position
in this organisation
- How can we prevent burnout
- In which
position could someone’s health
be jeopardised
| And
how are they applied? |
|
Confused? Or, after reading
a bit more about how it all works, you might
also think ‘this
is easy, I can do it by myself, place a few representatives
in the room, move them around, ask for feedback
and suggest sentences to be repeated’. In
fact, the technique itself is relatively
simple and can be replicated. But… even
though systemic organisational constellations look
easy from the outside, they are extremely complex,
involving influences from multiple directions and
various systemic levels both inside and outside
the organisation. Systemic organisational constellations
work on the invisible part of the iceberg, the
part that is underwater. Therefore, a skilled,
experienced and systemically aware facilitator
is needed, to guide you through the process almost
invisibly and with utmost care.
Systemic organisational constellations are applied
to find a possible resolution when a systemic imbalance
in an organisation or a business is suspected.
This imbalance is often shown as:
- Missing clarity
in tasks, functions or assignment of responsibilities
- Relationship
difficulties between staff
- Hierarchical conflicts
When the order in a system is disturbed, people on lower levels often
act out hidden or excluded themes of the company. They
are the weakest and most dependent members and
in some cases, belonging to the company means
survival. For example students in a school act
out unspoken conflicts between teachers. Or,
if the owner of a company has come to gain at
the cost of someone else, the entanglement often
pours into the next lower level and is acted
out in the management.
| Conditions
for an effective systemic organisational
constellation |
|
Caution is advised. Systemic organisational
constellations have to be treated in their context
and with care. They do not replace reality.
Real life is out there, on the street, in the
office, on the factory floor.
Sometimes a systemic constellation doesn’t
work out and no clarity is achieved for various
reasons. The dynamic, that becomes apparent in
the systemic constellation process, has no obvious
explanation and a pathway towards a resolution
cannot be found. The system might not be ready
to reveal buried information. Nevertheless, these
inconclusive constellations can still provide insights.
They sometimes carry hidden messages.
On the other hand, systemic constellations cannot
be performed out of curiosity, as casual questions
disempower the client and the facilitator. To get
the full benefit of a systemic constellation, a
certain approach is needed. Some of the key conditions
for a systemic constellation to work are listed
here:
- The client asking the question
for the constellation needs to be part of the
system the question is about
- The client needs
to be part of the solution; in other words, the
client needs to be able to do something about
the issue presented in real life
- The question
needs to be sincere, a pressing issue works best
- A
constellation does not help if an internal decision
has already been made
- A constellation cannot reduce
consequences, it will not soften harsh reality
- The
task still has to be done and the responsibility
still has to be assumed
- Systemic organisational
constellations are not fortune telling
The decision maker has to bear the full consequences
of any decision made and in full view of those implicated
by the decision. For example, an employee cannot
do a constellation on the management, he or she cannot
change anything there.
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